


The Eternal Sunshine of You and I

by Fckyeahcc



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Immortal!Shiro, Immortality, M/M, Pokemon AU, Reincarnating!Lance, Reincarnation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-26
Updated: 2017-09-29
Packaged: 2018-09-20 02:54:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 40,708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9472379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fckyeahcc/pseuds/Fckyeahcc
Summary: It’s rather unfortunate that an immortal fell in love with a reincarnating amnesiac. Well, no one, not even Arceus, ever said love was easy to begin with. Now, tell that to Lance and Shiro.





	1. Episode 01

**Author's Note:**

> It has been forever since I have actually wrote any remote kind of fanfiction. Furthermore, it was only recent that I have discovered the joys of Voltron: Legendary Defender, and with that, the small little ship known as Shance. I really like this pairing, as well as Heith (Hunk/Keith) and like for me, I can’t wait to see where this story will go. I also wanted let you guys know that I'll be making references to other fandoms and ships that I do like. Notably, the first one here was Kakashi and Naruto (Spoiler for this chapter, sorry!).
> 
> Thank you!

_(Thousands of years ago in the Pokémon Universe…)_

It was black. It was all black. In a faraway place, where the borders of absolute absence and absolute nothingness existed, life was not present.

Obviously.

It was dark, and it was black, and there was no further way to stretch that point.

It was cold. Where life was absent, so too was warmth. For nothing was there. Then, in a breath of absolute serendipity, God made the universe take a relieving sigh, and a being emerged from the darkness. This being was white and grey and gold. It grew horns and gauntlets. It grew to a tremendous size. And it grew with eyes full of aspiration. The being opened its eyes wider, and in a brief pondering moment, it named itself. This will become the deity of all creation, all good and bad, all that is and ever will be; this being is known as Arceus.

It was then that Arceus saw. It was black, and there was nothing to admire. A space without art. A time that couldn’t transcend.

With a wave of His paw, He touched the dark earth of nothingness and created two beings in His desired image; the first being suddenly made the cosmos blossomed in cascades of blues and purples, of greens and reds and nebulas filled richly in gold and pinks. A night of darkness was lifted, and what replaced it was a painting of galaxies and star systems and sheer wonder. It expanded so vastly that no eye except Arceus could find a finite end to it. Emerging from the darkness, a dragon that was marked in stripes, with shades of greys and purples marking it. It had wings that pointed the ends of the galaxies. Its long neck rose proudly at the rainbow of nebulas as it stood akin to a titan on its own two feet.

It was a wonder indeed.

But more so, the other being brought into fruition made everything move. Not by the pull of gravity but rather by releasing the flow of order. This became time. The second being took shape of diamonds of gears, body that glimmered strong and prideful as time clicked away. It wore many stripes of blues and grey, with a crest adorning its head and a chest plate bearing a diamond. The fan that was placed on its back would become the mechanism that allowed it to control time on its own whim.

It was in that moment the two beings were to be named.

They will be known as Palkia and Dialga, Guardians of Space and Time.

Within Palkia’s spaces, of all the special worlds and wonders that looped and floated about, Dialga pointed towards a small rock. This rock was the right size in Dialga’s eyes. When prodding Arceus, the God had notice the same perfection of this small rock by Dialga.

It was here that this rock will become a pivotal planet known as Earth.

With Earth, it was a clean canvas. Now Arceus looked at this planet and with a gentle smile, he created more. Descending to the little planet, He took some gravel and molded it into a being of fire and strength; this being will become a land deity, known as Groudon. Groudon was a fearsome being, who was covered in spikes and molten lava that bled a shade of cryptic ruby. It towered of above many of the small creatures that walked the land. Its tremendous plates and blades allowed it to sculpt Earth with land and its intense heat allowed fire and sunlight to shine without end.

As land flourished, so too had the need for water arose. When Arceus needed rain, he took a single sea and shaped it with ice. This will become the sea deity known as Kyogre. A ginormous whale like being, it bore the colors of the sea, a skin that shined like sapphires as calm eyes watched water swirled where land did not dominate. The white nails and the gentle push of its fins shaped the Earth from a brown rock into a marble of greens, blues and browns.

Unbeknown to Arceus, a creature without intention was born from the remanences of darkness. This ghastly figure emerged. It had wiled eyes filled with chaos and wrath, whose claws ached to bring forth destruction to everything Arceus had created. This being is known as Giratina. Giratina had a serpentine body, with black streamer-like wings that had red spikes prodding from the ends. Covered in greys, reds, golds and tones of black, it was the embodiment of death itself. The gold rings around its neck clicked and clacked like ticking claws, trying to grasp anything to crush. With its ability to travel time and space freely, it would set off on a path of absolute violence. This dragon has to be stopped.

In a ploy to incite conflict, Giratina forced Groudon and Kyogre to fight. As land and sea rose and fell without control, the clashing forced Arceus into a corner. For He knew that in order to achieve peace, He must force the guardians of land and sea into slumber. He did not understand why such problems must exist but knows nonetheless that it must end, for the sake of the smaller beings.

With that, Arceus created three beings. The first, a cloud was swirled and meshed into a majestic dragon without legs, whose scales clanged and flowed with the whirlwinds of destruction. This being will become the Guardian of the Sky and being of balance, a key to hold nature in perspective. This will become Rayquaza.

From a ruined tree, Arceus placed six precious gems onto it and with a quiet breath, gave life to the tree. It was then the tree fused with the energy Arceus gave it, becoming a deer whose very footsteps allowed life to emerge radiantly. Plants and flora waved without end as it walked, and so too had the deity of life as it watched the horrors of chaos around it. This will become Xerneas.

From a broken soul, Arceus first morphed it into a stone, and then into a cocoon. With Dialga’s help, the pressure of time forced the cocoon to burst into a dark avian creature. The first flaps of its wings allowed it to counteract Xerneas’ energetic waves, in which life met its end at its very presence. Now, with concerns for the dead caught between strife and madness, Arceus will make this being the deity of death and Guardian of the Afterlife. This being will become Yvetal.

It wasn’t entirely their fault, but nonetheless, Kyogre and Groudon had caused death. Kyogre blasted endless storms that drowned those in sight; Groudon on the other hand, summed harsh blights of light that burnt and tore away all that was good as land crackled and broke. It was only upon Rayquaza’s roar that the land and sea met in peaceful clarity. It was upon Xerneas’s step that life be restored as much as it could allow. It was upon Yvetal’s flight that those who were too late would find everlasting serenity in the next life.

For punishment for his crimes, Arceus had condemned Giratina to banishment. With a triumphant stomp, Giratina dissolved into fractures of light, each shard slithering away into the nearest surface of water. For his crimes against all Pokémon and humanity, Giratina will spend the rest of his days in the Reverse World, doomed to silently look onto others.

But this certainly will not be the last of him.

-+-+-+-

Now that a calmness was upon Earth, Arceus was able to gain a better look at the remaining humans and Pokémon who did survive this whole ordeal. Arceus took pity on this humans, who only saw fear and death in His art.

With that being said, Arceus felt it was time to empower these humans.

He created three intelligent elves, one of knowledge, one of emotions, and one of will power. These beings, who were capable of teaching all humans how to learn, how to feel and how to be brave, will guide them. These beings were known as Uxie, Mesprit and Azelf.

Arceus then created two dragons made from the purple shards from Palkia’s spaces. With a wave of His paw once more, the two beings formed into swift and powerful dragons. These dragons will assist Rayquaza whenever needed, and they were known as Latios and Latias.

With a shard of the moon and glossing of the cosmos, Arceus created a bird of sweet dreams, who would protect these humans as they slept. This will become Cresselia. To protect these humans from nightmares, Arceus used some of Giratina’s dark aura and infused it with good intentions. This will become Darkrai.

In order to preserve the lands that Groudon left behind as it slumbered, Arceus created four golems; Regigigas, as statue of art, would hold the lands together. Regigigas would then create a statue of ice to protect the snowy mountains and glaciers. This will become Regice. From mounds of sand and stone, Regigias would create a statue that will protect the majestic canyons and plateaus. This will become Regirock. With the last heated remains of Groudon’s molten rock, Regigigas burnt himself creating a steel entity that will act as its gatekeeper. This will become Registeel.

Registeel felt uncertainty. It did not know how powerful Groudon was. It feared what would happen should the Omega ever awake again. Using parts of its own body and the magma it surrounded itself with, Registeel created a monster of steel and fire, whose eyes glowed amber and whose boiling core was filled with protective desires. This will become Heatran, who will reside alongside Groudon to prevent it from ever being harmed or harming others.

Feeling it was unfair to leave Kyogre unprotected, Arceus breathed into two gems wrapped in seaweed. With a soft prayer, these bizarre tokens will morph into the guardians of the northern and southern seas as the currents rotate and ebb. These two will be known as Manaphy and Phione. Should ever the sea become plunged in peril, these two will alert Arceus in the event that Kyogre be pulled from its slumber.

To the humans who respected Arceus’ power, they were gifted with guardians that were specific to their homes. A bird, made of the embers from Groudon’s fires, will become a phoenix of good luck and prosperity; this will become Ho-oh. To protect Ho-oh’s home, the phoenix brought life into the northern winds, the fires from its own feathers, and from a bolt of lightning. These beings, whose features were mixed of dogs, felines, and of legends, will become Suicune, Entei, and Raikou.

To calm the storms that Kyogre left behind as he too slumbered, Arceus created a wise being that would protect the humans by taming the storms that danced around the horizons. This will become Lugia. Under Lugia’s control, a bird of ice will tame the blizzards, a bird of thunder will tame the lightning storms, and a bird of embers will tame heat waves. This trio will be known as Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres.

Now, wanting all Pokémon to flourish, Arceus created a special Pokémon. With bright pink eyes and soft fur, this creature will become a knowledgeable being that can master all the forms and moves of all known Pokémon. Its curious nature will allow it to travel from every end of the Earth. This being will be known as Mew.

In order to help Arceus and Dialga manage the flow of time, Arceus infused time into a small piece of ivy. This being, now a sprite with gentle eyes, will be free to travel time. It will watch over history being made, and should ever an error result in further strife, it will go back to correct it. This being will be known as Celebi. In the course of its existence, it will also spend time protecting the forest that gave it life.

One of Arceus’ greatest concerns lied with Xerneas and Yvetal; to control life by creating and destroying it, Arceus saw in fullness that it was a power that humans may one day try to abuse. In turn, He created Zygarde, a dragon of the same earth made of fruitful life and death that brought forth Xerneas and Yvetal. Should ever Zygarde be called upon, it will utilize its power to cancel out the control that either Xerneas or Yvetal have over life.  

-+-+-+-

Like Groudon and Kyogre, Arceus expended a lot of energy. It used its energy to create land and sea, to create life among humans and other Pokémon, to create peace and end chaos.

Arceus needed to regain that energy and it too needed to sleep. With that being said, Arceus assigned Dialga, Xerneas and Celebi a task.

It was to find a human and make him immortal, so that should humanity ever fall into chaos, this human, who will become a savior likened to Arceus Himself, will protect the Pokémon universe.

Of all the humans they could find, they finally chose one. This human was willful and kind. Calm, with a sense of honesty and compassion born into his soul. This human was strong and protective. He wouldn’t dare let those he loved down. Knowing that this human will endure some suffering upon the gift that he may receive, Arceus, Dialga, Xerneas and Celebi gifted him a gentle being, a Pokémon who was imagined in the form of the cosmos. This being, Cosmog, will serve to help this human survive his suffering as an immortal. Arceus gifted this human strength. Dialga and gifted him eternal youth. Xerneas gifted him immortality and as such, the ability to share eternal life should he choose to. And Celebi gifted him with the ability to remember everything his eyes will ever touch.

This human, who will serve as Arceus’ champion and hero, was known as Takashi Shirogane.

* * *

 

_(Present day)_

Of all the fucking things that Zarkon could do at this moment, sending the entire Lion squad through a distorted wormhole was one of the worst things that Lance could think of. One of the top ones to be precise.

The only other thing topping this being _THE worst_ thing to ever happen in the fucking universe was abducting Shiro and Pidge’s brother and making Lance think his favorite idol was dead for a good year (that was something he just couldn’t grasp up until finding out that Shiro was very much different but very much alive now).

Lance was pissed. He was pissed that Zarkon was able abduct Allura. He was pissed that they took Shiro’s right arm. He was pissed that that druid had fucking blasted Keith and practically annihilated his team (for Quiznack’s sake, Keith was the second strongest trainer on the team after Shiro as well as being an expert at close combat, and Lance could admit that, but if Keith defeated, what the hell?!).

But above all else, Lance was pissed that Zarkon took too much from each the Paladins as well as Allura, Coran and the Alteans. Zarkon took Lance’s hero away from him. Zarkon took away Shiro’s normalcy. Zarkon took away everything Allura ever loved. Zarkon took and the Galra will keep taking and taking and to Lance, this has to end. It just has to end.

Considering that there was enough room in Blue’s cockpit, Lance looked around. He saw every button and control mechanism spark and hiss at him. He saw the window swirling with abnormal colors like a hideous abstract painting through acid vision while the windows creaked and spiny cracks webbed the glass like a horrendous spider web. His Pokéball released a small blue mermaid like fox.

“Vaporeon, I’m so sorry,” was all Lance would whisper that the little Pokémon could understand. The erratic sounds and the nonstop beeping and blaring of sirens and computers breaking was overshadowing this lame apology, but Vaporeon understood his master. The blue Pokémon nuzzled his head against Lance’s chest.

So this is the end.

“Vaporeon, use Protect.”

Upon command, the Bubble Jet Pokémon created a force field out of water vapors, surrounding both Lance and himself. They knew that it wasn’t going to protect them from the incoming impact. Whatever futile attempt they were going to make upon their landing, it wasn’t going to work. But they could try at least, right?

Right?

Lance hugged Vaporeon once more. The Blue Paladin could feel his heart racing with dread, chest aching from all the jolting and his head was spinning in addition to the Blue Lion. The spacecraft felt as though it were accelerating too. This only served to make him hold his first Pokémon even tighter. It was here that Lance was reminiscing about his life prior to joining Voltron and agreeing (albeit reluctantly) to help Shiro protect the universe (that he was okay with, mostly because Shiro was his idol that convinced him to become a space pilot, and also because dear God and Arceus, Shiro was hot as a Charizard’s Blast Burn).

It was here that Lance was thinking about all the mistakes he has made (such as signing up to become a pilot for the Mossdeep Space Academy instead of becoming joining the Pokémon League like his father; or that other time where he failed to ask that one boy out during trainer school; or how Lance was still beating himself up because now he is going to die a virgin; or how instead of going to space academy with a supportive family, he went alone because his parents were absolutely against him becoming a space pilot and yet somehow he managed to get in and support himself through it). Lance was thinking of all these things and he was thinking of them too deeply to actually focus on his surroundings.

Lance didn’t just see these memories; he began to hear them too. He began to hear all the good times his family sang him happy birthday whenever it was his day. He could hear his mother shrieking angrily in Spanish because one of his training routines resulted in Vaporeon leaving dents all over his father’s car due to a misfired Ice Beam attack. He could hear even the shitty music they played at Prom Night, and how he and Hunk decided to ditch their dates and hit the town with their Pokémon.

It was true. When life is so close to ending, specifically your own life, you can start reliving every moment, every breath taking memory you had flash before you. You start to see it and you feel every emotion from those moments way too quickly and way to intensely. Lance could only watch the montage of his life play on through his adrenaline rush.  

A horrible, hilarious, regrettable montage.

It was funny, in Lance’s eyes, in spite of every problematic moment running rampant in his boggled mind. It was in that particular moment that Lance did not just see one set of flashbacks, not just his life before and after becoming a space warrior.

A green being just magically popped out of fucking nowhere and before Lance could react, the green being pressed its forehead against Lance’s own and all the memories, all the good and the bad ones began to cascade like an icy white torrent of realization, leading to swift waterfall. Said green sprite then gently caressed Cosmoem’s Pokéball, ejecting the Protostar Pokémon. With a smile, it pressed its small finger on the small Pokémon’s forehead and Lance saw the universe had suddenly imploded and then exploded.

Literally.

Lance didn’t even know it was possible but Cosmoem had just evolved. He knows this because the once small sleeping little stony Pokémon had suddenly morphed into something so big it broke the control panels in Blue. Lance couldn’t breathe. There was now barely any room as the changing Pokémon grew and grew. The increasing mass forced the Blue Lion to dip, and soon enough Lance could feel the space craft edging closer and closer to the breaking point. The crackling noises roared even louder.

It was in that moment that between the wormhole shattering, Blue’s cockpit window smashing upon impact and the madness of the corrupt wormhole ending that Lance saw, with perfect clarity and within the fifteen seconds it took before he felt his head hit the dashboard of his Lion, every single one of his past lives.

All that Lance could see, without fail, was one person.

Shiro.

* * *

 

_(Some distant rock canyon planet…)_

Shiro didn’t know which miracle was worth more; his Pokémon and Black Lion landing in one piece without much damage (except for him; curse Haggar), or the fact that he was stranded on the same planet as Keith. The two had someone landed through the same tear within the wormhole.

It was a bad ride. Being the pilot he is, Shiro has had his fair share of tumbles back when he was a new cadet during the advent of space travel at Mossdeep City. But this, this was just _unreasonably rough_. The Black Lion took more rolls and slams than Shiro was used to feeling being its pilot. The giant cat slammed as it descend towards the canyon.

One.

Two.

Three.

Pause.

One.

Two.

These were the beats that Shiro could feel. They were the amount of times that it took a hit, and Shiro could feel the red wings on Black Lion’s black take a beating. The head took a smack against a rock pillar. The last hit jolted Shiro, thrusting his head forward and slamming right into the dashboard of his lion, blacking him out.

-+-+-+-

He could barely walk.

With the remaining willpower he had, he was able to get up and pry open the Black Lion’s upper hatch, and stumble about before collapsing against a wall of stone.

His side hurt badly. A claw mark marled his pale skin, glowing a vicious shade of violet as it throbbed, each pulse making his skin crawl and his nerves fire off tirelessly. Shiro ached, and every shift, every movement he made, even every breath he took, a shaky moment to inhale and an agonizing exhale, made his wound hurt more. If Shiro could recall all the moments he has survived through, and considering the span of his entire life, he has been through some very, very, _very_ painful spots, this one had to top some of those distant memories. The only one worse than this was what Haggar did to his arm

Grabbing his Pokéball, releasing the only Pokémon he had that could heal him. In a flash of light, a black dress had graced the ground. It was Shiro’s Gardevoir. Gardevoir shuddered, feeling the arid heat in the wind. But the Embrace Pokémon had set aside her discomfort the minute she looked in the same direction her owner looked; he needed medical attention. A serene, purple aura radiated as Shiro waited. Gardevoir was set at work. It wouldn’t be quite the same as a healing pod that Allura could provide but it was the best Shiro could muster at the moment.

Not long after he got out of the space craft, Shiro could hear a deafening thud. They were not loud drops of heavy feet, but Shiro knew now that he and Gardevoir were not alone. Looking to the east, he saw foreign creatures investigating his space ship. Gardevoir looked up at her master abruptly. Her eyes were fixed on Shiro with concern, but not for his wound. The creatures were huge; they had dull beige tusks jutting from their cheeks, their tails bladed and a prowl that made it look hungry, deadly even.

Their red eyes suddenly zoomed in on the Black Paladin.

* * *

 

_(A distant icy planet…)_

Let’s list off the things that currently going on:

  * Lance crash landed on some barren icy wasteland where even the asscrack of the sun doesn’t shine.
  * Blue Lion was relatively put wrecked; still capable of moving and walking but overall stranded and incapable of flight at the moment.
  * Blue Lion also had a smashed-in window and therefore rendered space travel relatively dangerous without any viable way to contain oxygen.
  * Lance is completely alone.
  * Lance is completely alone with the exception of a green sprite.
  * Said green sprite forced his Cosmoem to evolve into a freakishly beautiful space vampire bat and Lance is fighting every emotion he is feeling in order to deal with the situation at hand which is to fucking survive.
  * At least, on the surface, the planet had enough oxygen in the air for Lance to breathe freely and not depend on his oxygen supply within his space armor.
  * Lance knows deep down this Pokémon, despite its mildly scary looks, was once the sweet and annoying Cosmog he knew it was.



Okay, now that that was out of the way, Lance can finally breath and scream and worry hysterically about the situation at hand because HOLY FUCK, is this a cold blizzard or what?! Where did all this ice come from?! Why the fuck is it so damn loud outside!!!

Lance flinched at the cold that slapped his cheek.

Fucking quiznack on fire fuck, Lance briskly thought. Of all the Pokémon he had on him, it was unfortunate none of them knew any Fire-type attacks. That’s why we have Keith, Lance thought lamely. Wait, Keith. And the team!

It sank in that Lance really was alone. He doesn’t know what end of the universe he was thrown in. He doesn’t know where the Castle was, or where his team was. He doesn’t even know where to begin searching for shelter. Shiro, Hunk, Pidge, Allura, Coran and Keith…they could be anywhere. The only thing that he knew was that it was so cold. And although his space suit was somewhat useful at retaining his heat…it wouldn’t last him long.

“C’mon Blue, and whatever…you are…we got to find shelter.”

Both the gigantic alien ship and the blue bat nodded in agreement. Lance was grateful that his new Pokémon was able to recall back into its Pokéball with ease. Unfortunately, the green sprite had no Pokéball to return to. Lance held onto it, hoping whatever warmth the green sprite could feel could be felt from his armor. The three began a hike in search of something to hide away in.

Lance trekked on. The blizzard howled like an unrelenting banshee. Looking onward, he could see right before him was a valley of ice, the snow and darkness glaciating at a snail’s pace. Rocks, _jagged_ rocks jutted around Lance. There were no trees, but Lance could make out the small frozen ponds that were around. When the rocks became too big to climb and too sharp to even grasp, let alone to safely move through, Lance would have to turn around and try again to forge a path. Although Vaporeon might have been able to help Lance travel (Rock Smash would have saved them a lot of time), he didn’t want to risk taking out the Bubble Jet Pokemon; the last time he let Vaporeon wander around in the snow, the subzero temperature nearly gave him hypothermia. Not risking that, Lance cautioned.

It was a wasteland. There was no other way that Lance could have really described this drab scenery. The wind wouldn’t stop howling and even underneath his helmet and the cracked visor that covered his eyes, he could feel his skin crawl against the wind. Although the Blue Lion had indicated the planet did have oxygen, opening his helmet wasn’t worth it. It was just too cold.

The sky was barely lit. Lance couldn’t see very far into the valley as his companions walked on. He needed to find shelter so he could try to heal his Pokémon and figure out what to do next. The valley of rocks echoed the blizzard but Lance could feel they weren’t alone. It’s clear that he has no idea what planet they had landed on. Buried in the cacophony of aimless winds screaming, the soft cries of unknown creatures could barely be heard.

This only served to make Lance nervous. Wanting to protect his batty friend, he decided to recall him back into his pokéball.

After wandering around for nearly three hours (and the little sprite, who has since fainted in Lance’s arms) Lance had managed to find a cave within the valley. It wasn’t warm, not by a long shot, but oddly enough, it sat at the bottom of a cliff and was gigantic enough to even house Blue Lion. For that, Lance was grateful.

When they got settled into the cave, Lance could feel one of his Pokéballs twitching. It was the ball containing his new friend, whatever Pokémon it was. Lance didn’t know what the Pokémon was at all. All that he remembers was that he had Cosmog, who somehow managed to evolve into Cosmoem (after doing God knows what, Lance was use to Cosmog playing pranks on everyone and everything round him really so how he managed to evolve was still a mystery), and even then all he did was sleep ALL DAY, ALL THE TIME. Lance couldn’t even remember where he caught this Poke- wait.

He does remember. It occurred to him that he remembers because he received Cosmoem during another life time, back when Cosmoem was a Cosmog. And Lance wasn’t thinking of when he met Shiro for the first time at Mossdeep Space Academy; no, he was thinking of one of his past lives where he met Shiro hundreds of years ago in some era he couldn’t really remember except for the way his captain/friend looked at him with distressed as he tried to help him and Lance was bleeding and the memory was a jumbled mess but God, Lance remembers it. Lance remembers that he met Shiro so long ago.

Lance remembers these things but he has no idea why these are his memories. In fact, before all of this nonsense, he remembers living a happy, carefree life in Slateport City, flirting with a bunch of guys and girls, surfing and training his Pokémon team because it was the least his parents expected of him (and maybe joining the Pokémon League) before finally deciding to join Mossdeep City’s Space Academy and becoming a pilot (much to his parents’ horror and surprise). Lance had a good life. And he remembers how at the time, all Shiro was to him was a hero, an inspiration to explore space and fly space ships and how upon meeting him they became good friends (though not as good as Shiro and Keith are because as it seems, Shiro tells Keith _EVERYTHING_ and that sometimes hurts Lance and fills him with silent jealousy, but even he understood why; didn’t Shiro say they were cousins or something?). And somehow they became friends because apparently to Allura, all of them were destined to fight Zarkon with their Pokémon and using the Legendary Lions to form Voltron and protect the universe.

Instead, Lance is suddenly remembering the very first day in Ilex Forest and how Shiro kissed him, and gave him Cosmog, saying how important this Pokémon will be one day but he didn’t know what he meant.

Now that Cosmog is no longer Cosmog, Lance understood that that day was somewhere nearby now. Cosmoem’s Pokéball couldn’t contain itself anymore and out came that batty creature.

Lance was now able to get a good look at it. Its wings glowed like a nebula, all the stars and the night skies making the skin that allows it flight. Holding its wings were pale gold bands, ending with sharp hooks that were similar to bots. At the lower portions of its wings were dangling gold spikes, with its tail similar to a gold pendulum. On its stellar body were white tuffs, with ridges that were eerily akin to bones and skeletal features. With a short snout, dark pink eyes with white centers and blue skin, it was indeed a beautiful and yet mysterious creature. With every breath, its skin shifted as though the stars and the cosmos were moving with it. The most peculiar feature that Lance saw was how its head was shaped like a moon. When the beast flexed its own wings, its body as a whole became the moon.

Lance stood, mouth agape in awe.

“Luna!” cried the bat. With another whip of its wings, blue-whitish orbs of fire appeared and immediately hit the ground aimlessly. To Lance’s surprise, the bat made a little fire to heat them up.

“What are you?” Lance asked.

“Luna,” cooed the huge bat.

The green sprite that was once nestled in Lance’s arms finally awoke. The green creature looked up at Lance with wide blue eyes, and were met with equally bewildered blue eyes. As Lance let the creature float about, its gentle cry suddenly had Lance remember this Pokémon.

* * *

 

_(750 Years ago, Ilex Forest…)_

The first time Lance ever saw Shiro was when he was walking around Ilex Forest. During this time, the shinobi of the Kanto region and the Johto region were fighting over territory. Why, Lance didn’t know; he didn't know that they were fighting for territory in the first place - he wasn't one to pay attention to history, yet here he was, not remembering it, no he was actually here living it; in addition to this fact, all he also knew that his parents, being the leaders of the town, had made Azalea Town a neutral point, and had forbade any kind of conflict from arising for the sake of Celebi. But he saw Shiro during a time where entering the Ilex Forest was forbidden by his family.

At the time, Lance only had two Pokémon on him; Vaporeon and Horsea.

Even though his parents had told Lance not to wander around the forest, he did so as he pleased. It wasn’t like any of the shinobi would enter this forest anyway, most of the conflict took place either in Ecruteak City, Goldenrod City, or Fuchsia City in Kanto; Lance wasn’t remotely close to the conflict. Azalea Town was safe, and Ilex Forest was calm and serene as always.

At least, that was what Lance thought.

The way Lance met Shiro was not your typical see a cute stranger in the forest clearing and being awestruck kind of ordeal; that was relatively clichéd and quite frankly, not the truth. No. Instead, this is how it happened: it involved Lance nearly dying by the end of a kunai thrown straight at him, only to be deflected by his faithful Vaporeon.

“Who are you!? What are you doing here!?” someone screamed. More kunai, followed by shuriken, rained down from the sky. In the crossfire, Vaporeon used Protect, covering his master as both ran for cover. What was meant to be a calm day where Vaporeon could freely frolic in the pond ended with a run for their lives. Out of nowhere, a kunai with a cream tag attached to the end of it caught ablaze and suddenly detonated, sending the two flying. Lance had a rough flight, slamming into a tree while his blue companion flew into another pond.

“Who are you, answer me!” shouted the same dangerous voice.

Before Lance could catch his breath and try to sit up, his shoulders were thrown onto the ground and sharp knee pinned him down. Another dagger was held against his throat.

“I’m not going to repeat myself again. Who the _fuck_ are you?”

Lance could barely crack his eyes as he struggled to turn his head towards his assailant. He could see a bright orange kimono and blonde hair. He could see angry blue eyes looking at him. And next to him was glaring Ninetales, its heat glowing around it. The stranger had strange whiskers on his cheeks. On his forehead protector was the kanji for Ecruteak City.

“Naruto, stop.” Asserted a calmer voice. The shinobi, Naruto, turned around.

“But Kakashi-sensei, this guy-“

“Naruto. Look at his clothing. He’s from Azalea Town.”

“So?”

“That’s a pacifist town; there are no shinobi there. Now Naruto, we don’t want to cause any more problems, do we?” Out of nowhere, a gangly man with silver hair popped up behind the blonde shinobi in a cloud of smoke; like the orange ass-hat, the man wore a hitai-ate with the same kanji (what the hell, are all shinobi from Ecruteak jerks?!) while his stealth kimono was black with silver slivers on the sleeves. Lance could only gulp, and his subtle swallow was noticed by Naruto, who pressed the weapon a bit closer but not enough to hurt. Kakashi placed his hand against his shoulder, urging Naruto to let go.  

“Kakashi, Naruto, is everything okay? Why on Earth are you throwing a bunch of kunai aimlessly?”

“I wasn’t throwing them aimlessly! This loser was wandering around the forest.”

“Hey!” Lance defended himself. This earned him a harder press against his chest by this Naruto.

Emerging from the bushes, another shinobi came forth. This shinobi had soft black hair that was cropped shortly at the sides. He wore a purple stealth kimono over black mesh with padded footing and everything. A hitai-ate was tied around his right arm, denoting the kanji for the Kanto region. But the most stunning feature was this man’s smile.

Lance could feel his heart beat a little faster than he wanted it to.

When the man looked back at Lance, his smile grew wider, and for the first time in a long time, Lance felt his cheeks burn harshly as he blushed.

* * *

 

_(Present day)_

“Why do I have these memories?” Lance wondered aloud. He wasn’t asking the green sprite, but it looked up at him anyways. How could he have known Shiro all those years ago? Lance heard of the concept of reincarnation and shit, but didn’t care for any of it (if anything, it was kind of against his parents’ own religious beliefs because they only believe in on life given to you by God and Arceus and pretty much the idea of reincarnation beyond the life span of the legendary Pokémon Ho-oh and Moltres sounded somewhat silly).

But the memories were real. They felt real. Lance flinched, his back tapping the cave wall.

The green sprite wiggled a little before fluttering her wings. Rising up, she reached out a glowing paw and tapped Lance’s forehead.

Lance did not know where he was.

One moment he was sitting in a bleak cavern and the next, he was sitting in some extradimensional room that glowed gold and an ivory grid that lined it was oddly similar to an effective Magic Room. The room felt warm in stark contrast to what Lance was previously in.

“Oh quiznack, where am I?! What is this?!” the Blue Paladin asked himself.

Before Lance came four beings. First was the green sprite with the sweet blue eyes that matched his own.

But then the others ones materialized. The next being was an unfamiliar one. It was towering deer. With a coat that was sheen, it glowed cobalt and black. The antlers though…they were marvelous. Lance was stunned, staring with a slack jaw at the sheer wonder that emerged from the antlers, each covered in glowing jewels, each a color of an unimaginable rainbow. The jewels pulsed with every breath of the majestic beast, turning dark and light in a steady, tranquil rhythm. Its massive hooves appeared like blades. At the center of its chest arrow that pointed proudly to its proud chin. What amazed Lance was how its eyes were shaped like X’s in the pupil.

“I am Xerneas,” the tall deer said. There was no sound, but Lance heard it. He didn’t see it move its mouth at all, yet the soothing feminine voice reverberated in his head.

“Hi.” Lance greeted shyly. Now, normally Lance would be confident but he has heard of Xerneas; the reverent deity of life and energy, the giver of new beginnings for all things born and created within its touch. The only thing he didn’t know was whether or not Xerneas was still on Earth or was just a part of the old myths. Nonetheless instead of a being an idiot, he ought to be respectful (with even more respect than whatever he paid Allura during their first meeting) at the presence of a deer goddess.

The third being to join them was a draconic dinosaur. It had two steel blades that it wore around its diamond horn, one that looks like a bishop’s miter. Its silver chest piece had a blue gem, one that glimmered like a blue diamond. The blue stripes all over its body shimmered much like Xerneas’ own fur, as though they were veins pumping. Its very presence made Lance feel chest heavy. His own body felt aching and suddenly, Lance felt himself kneel before this dragon as weighted pressure demanded compliance. Each foot was tipped with three blades in place of claws before being cuffed. To Lance, he felt he was kneeling before a king.

“I am Dialga, controller of the flow of time. You may rise now, Lance.” A stern voice rang in his skull. It felt as though Lance was being addressed by Shiro during one of his moody days and when Lance did something particularly annoying.

Lance could now feel himself feel light and right again. Lance stood.

The final being to materialize was a very familiar one. One that Lance and his family had always prayed to in church. One that gleamed like a holy star.

It was Arceus. Without thinking about it, Lance quietly recited the Holy Trinity. His right hand tapped his forehead for the Father, then his chest for the Son, before crossing his chest in honor of the Holy Spirit.

“Hello, Lance.” Greeted the Creation Deity.

Lance could only gulp. He couldn’t reply. He couldn’t bring himself to utter a shameful word before the leader of an entire religion and essentially embarrass himself in this dimension. As if sensing his unease, Arceus stepped closer to Lance.

“It is okay, my child. I come before you with a message.”

“Is he ready?” Xerneas questioned Arceus.

“He is!” the green sprite cried. Lance looked with astonishment at the green sprite who descended from tall heights to sit upon Dialga’s shoulder. Lance remembers.

That green sprite was the Time Traveler, Celebi. “I gave him all his memories. And just in the nick of time too!” Celebi jested.

Well that answered some questions, namely why he is having a comically outlandish day remembering every single life he has ever had.

Noticing his discomfort, Celebi turned towards Lance and smiled even brighter.

Just what the hell is going on today?!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pokemon Information:
> 
> Arceus, Dialga, Palkia, Kyogre, Groudon, Giratina, Rayquaza, Xerneas, Yvetal, Uxie, Mesprit, Azelf, Regigigas, Regirock, Regice, Registeel, Cressalia, Darkrai, Heatran, Manaphy, Phione, Latios, Latias, Celebi, Ho-oh, Lugia, Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres, Entei, Raikou, Suicune, Mew, Zygarde, Cosmog, Cosmoem, and Lunala are considered Legendary Pokémon and not many people encounter them often. Some are considered mythical. http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Legendary_Pok%C3%A9mon
> 
> Vaporeon is known as the Bubble Jet Pokémon. http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Vaporeon_(Pok%C3%A9mon)
> 
> Horsea is known as the Dragon Pokémon. http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Horsea_(Pok%C3%A9mon)
> 
> Ninetales is known as the Fox Pokémon. http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Ninetales_(Pok%C3%A9mon)
> 
> Gardevoir is known as the Embrace Pokémon. http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Gardevoir_(Pok%C3%A9mon)


	2. Episode 02

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I first wanted to say thank you everyone who read this and commented! Literally, it’s been almost, what, I think 4-5 years since I have actually written any fanfiction, and certainly written anything that I am actually really interested in. Nonetheless, all of you are amazing, and for that I am truly grateful for! Also, as a thank you, I want to give a shout out to nekolion, who such a sweet person and great at reviewing works. Thank you for being my Beta! Also, take the time to check out their work, A Touch of Sweet Nothing. 
> 
> Stay tuned!  
> -Fckyeahcc

_(A long time ago, Ilex Forest…)_

Ever since he was a little boy, Lance always went to Ilex Forest. It was easy to get lost in, but when you enter it enough times, you slowly learn to find the right paths.

The oak tree around the corner had an x-shaped scar on it.

There was a pond where Magikarp and Poliwag were most abundant in.

One particular tree to the most eastern part of the woods had the biggest Beedrill nest Lance had ever seen (don’t ask him how he came across it, but he did and that was not a fun time for him nor his Vaporeon).

The first time he ever went into the woods, it was when his precious Eevee had wandered around, back when he was so rambunctious. Even when the rain touched down, Lance had much fun being there in Ilex Forest.

Lance was an explorer. No tree was too high for him to climb. No body of water was too deep for him to dive in without fear. No stone would be left untouched. The moment he’d set his eyes on something, determination rapidly streamed out of him and into the first steps he’d take into doing something. Once his mind was set, more often than not, Lance would want to see it to the end. Even when his parents forbade him from entering the forest ever since the shinobi began war, he’d still find a way to elude the gatekeepers. He was an explorer, and the world was abundant with places to see, foods to try and people to meet.

One day, the teen thought, one day I will leave.

Lance loved Azalea Town. He loved the people there. He loved the baker and his wife who made the best pastries he has ever tasted. He loved the little kids who he’d help watch over whenever their parents were busy. He loved his own parents and his siblings, who did all they could to make his life and everyone else’s lives stable and calm.

But to stay in Azalea Town for the rest of his days, it wasn’t something he wanted. He wants to leave the gates someday. He wants to travel the roads. He wants to see the beaches, and touch snow, and see the sunset somewhere other than behind the tall oak and pine trees that surround the village. His heart yearned for life beyond all that he knew and yet…he is still here.

That’s why he goes to Ilex Forest. Because some day, he’ll find himself walking away from it. Someday, he’ll have the adventure he hopes for.

-+-+-+-

In the heart of the forest was an old stone shrine. It was of a moderate size, seated on a stone pedestal, coated in moss and tiny white flowers with petals too delicate for any person to handle without them falling to the forest floor. The two towering trees looked over the shrine like guardians while the shrubs and bushes were adorned with a variety of flowers. There were daisies, lilies, roses, daffodils, even posies made of jasmine and lilacs. How these flowers came together, Lance doesn’t know, but the shrine was covered with a variety of plants. These flowers never wilt. They stayed pert and bloomed, as if ready to greet whoever passed on by.

The air was sweetened with the aroma of flowers. The moss and grass beneath Lance’s feet were lush and velvety. It was pleasant enough for him to remove his shoes and relax.

This shrine belonged to Celebi.

-+-+-+-

Every once and a while, his village would send some to tend to the shrine. Even during times of danger, they would send someone in order to clean the shrine a little and leave offerings of food and flowers. Because of this ongoing war that now has seemingly appeared near the forest, Lance was especially forbidden from performing this duty (much to his dismay). In the distant past, even before Lance was born, his village had worshipped Celebi, knowing that whenever it would return from a journey, it would bring blessings of good fortune to his people. That’s why they gave Celebi a shrine.

Today was not Lance’s turn to tend the shrine (it hasn’t been for months), but that didn’t stop him from going to it.

He always feel drawn to come to it. Even when the day comes where Lance would leave Azalea Town, he’d promised himself to always return to the shrine and his family if he felt the need arise.

As he kneeled before the shrine, he placed his hands together, whispering a soft prayer. The sun shined bright, the rays grazing his skin. The tunic he was wearing felt right for this time of the year.

A foot step made a rustling sound not far from where Lance sat. The steps, which usually were stealthy in nature, were noticeable enough for Lance to detect the other’s presence.

He turned around to see a familiar smile.

* * *

 

_(Present day)_

Lance was known for a lot of things. He was known for being an insatiable flirt. He was known for being a smooth one. He was known for being an excellent marksman. He was known to be a phenomenal Pokémon trainer. He was known for being adventurous. He was known for being free-spirited. He was known for being adamant, willful even.

Yet, in some ironic sense, Lance was also known for sometimes lacking self-restraint.

Key word _sometimes._

So being warped away into some extradimensional room while in outer space, while stranded on another planet, while stranded on said planet away from his team, and being surrounded by a bunch of legendary Pokémon who just had to grant him back his memories of every single life he had lived and died through…it was a lot for Lance to take in, and it certainly took all his self-restraint to not start hysterically panicking and hyperventilating because he keeps thinking about Shiro and what he would do and how instead of panicking, he would ask the right questions and-

It was here Lance could feel every thought fire off the same way his nerves did; insanely and viciously quick, impulsively and without actually pausing for a moment to take everything in.

Taking a moment, Lance took a breath, feeling the air (amazing! The fact that this dimension has breathable air certainly surprised him) charge into him, he exhaled.

Can’t panic now. Got to focus. Can’t panic now. Got to focus.

Those two phrases, repeating in his mind, were the only thing keeping him calm. Lance didn’t realize he had closed his eyes to focus because feeling something brush his arm is what urged his eyes to open again. It was Celebi.

“Why am I here? What’s going on?” Lance questioned, his voice shaking. He had every right to ask, but the beings around him, all who stood much taller and more majestically, made making eye contact so damn hard for him.

“We are here because we need to assist you in fulfilling a prophecy.” Asserted Xerneas.

The beings circled around Lance, and the glow of the room dimmed while the lights slowly focused more upon the Blue Paladin. Their eyes all steadied themselves at Lance, each wearing a patient expression.

“You see, young paladin, it took us a long time to track you.” Arceus neutrally stated. “You were chosen by my champion, and as such it was prophesized that the day you regain your memory, will be the day you will be able to help my champion defeat Giratina, and in effect, the Galra Empire.”

Lance took a gulp of air. His heart rate shot up tenfold. Who was Giratina?

“You wouldn’t believe what kind of trouble we all went through looking for you!” Celebi said with jest.

“Trouble?”

“Well yeah! Trouble! You know, you weren’t exactly the greatest at surviving.”

Now that caught Lance’s, and snagged a little bit of Lance’s annoyance.

“Hey now! I’ll have you know I got awesome survival skills!”

“I don’t know buddy, remember, Dialga and I’ve seen you go through some not-so-pleasant things.” Celebi countered.

“Oh yeah? Like what!?” Lance challenged.

“Like death.”

In spite of Celebi’s cheery demeanor, the mood went somber. Xerneas and Dialga dipped their heads a little as if to look down to the floor instead of at Lance. It suddenly became an intensely horrific epiphany to Lance. He has died. He has died repeatedly. Some of those thoughts, of how, of when, of why he had died, montaged within his skull, and all the blurred images running amuck made it hard to determine what was he imagining versus what if what he was seeing mentally were memories.

He didn’t want to dig up the more graphic or horrifying ones, but they were somewhere in him, and now his own mind was giving him anxiety, waiting to flashback to some tragic lifetime.

What a terrible mindfuck.

Seriously.

And then came another thought.

What does this have to do with Shiro? How did he meet Shiro all those years ago?

Has…has Shiro seen him die? Oh God. _Ohgodohgodohgodohgod no,_ that is something Lance didn’t want to worry about. He didn’t want to think about all the times something killed him. He didn’t want to think about why he had died. He didn’t even want to think about how it might have felt to die, let alone die in front of his hero.

Xerneas saw Lance’s face scrunch up with both worry and confusion.

“Is something wrong, Lance?”

He didn’t know how to answer that question.

The air that he was trying to steadily breathe in earlier now remained trapped in his throat, his voice, his thoughts, all held back. He didn’t know how to answer the question. He didn’t know if he wanted to know the answer. But there was something so important about Shiro that Lance didn’t understand. Why did they meet years ago? Does Shiro remember? How come he has never said anything to Lance upon meeting in back on Earth? How has Shiro live for so long?

“Ugh, Lance stop thinking like that! Calm down, please.” Celebi complained.

“What? I wasn’t saying anything!”

“No, but I can hear your thoughts, Lance. And they are way too loud.”

“Stop reading my mind!” Lance bickered back.

“You really don’t remember much, do you?” asked Xerneas.

Lance looked up at the Life Pokémon, and he felt something hurt in him. He didn’t really remember much. All the thoughts and flashbacks keep screeching and replaying in his head, and it was some proof that he did live through those events and yet at the same time, his heart feels little attachment to the past lives and all that he had endured. How is he supposed to feel, when he realized that each life, he has had multiple parents and families? How is he supposed to feel, when he realized he has repeatedly died? How is he supposed to feel, when he realized that Shiro was more than a hero figure to him.

Lance touched his lips. There were thoughts, there were so many damn thoughts, thoughts that concerned his leader. They were thoughts of them holding hands. They were thoughts of Lance being with Shiro before Voltron. They were thoughts of how Lance had said “I love you,” so many times to Shiro. There were so many, and it now came to Lance’s multiple realizations that Shiro has been with him in their past lives, and all of this information overload was making his head quake in pain.

“How? How did I meet Shiro? Why?”

* * *

 

_(Ilex Forest)_

“Hi.”

Lance looked up and around, finding one of the visiting shinobi standing behind him.

“It was Shiro, right?”

“Yes. How are you, Lance?”

“I’m okay. Just exploring the woods, same old, same old.” Lance calmly replied. He turned back around to face the shrine.

Lance was used to coming out here alone. He was used to it, and most the time he didn’t mind it. To have company with him, was a nice change of pace though. Lance reached into the pocket of his pants, holding his Pokéball. Pressing the button on it, a flash of red light zapped out of it, taking the form of Vaporeon.

The blue little fox gave a yawn before settling itself against Lance.

“What brings you here, Shiro?”

“Your parents were looking for you.” The older man stated.

Lance groaned at Shiro’s statement. Today was his day off. He did his chores yesterday. He finished his studies already (shocking, right?) and he already ran the errands he needed to do in the village the day before. So what if he wasn’t allowed into Ilex Forest? Can’t he just get some alone time?

“And you’re here to bring me back, am I right?”

“Do you want to go back?”

Lance paused himself. Was Shiro asking this question?

“To be honest, no.” Lance admitted.

“Then we don’t have to go back right now.”

After those words, Shiro knelt down beside Lance. He wore the same black and purple stealth kimono from before, but this time without his forehead protector on. Feeling comfortable, Lance turned back towards the shrine and closed his eyes.

A lot of people have known Lance for not always keeping still but contrary to belief, Lance can do so in his alone time. Perhaps it is the presence of other people that make him more excitable, or that sometimes he simply has the impulse to do whatever he desires without much thought but whenever Lance is alone, he actually does enjoy relaxing instead of moving about rapidly. He can name a couple of books he likes to read. Whenever he can, he likes to go swimming or fishing in the blue ponds hidden in Ilex Forest.

Sometime has passed, and Lance shifted a little, mostly between sitting and kneeling, or lying down to bask in the warmth of spring.

-+-+-+-

So it turns out that Shiro will be assigned to monitor Azalea Town. What originally was meant to be a quick pit stop ended up with town leaders sending a request for protection to Shiro’s boss. Much to Lance’s displeasure, Naruto would be staying too. Lance did not mind Kakashi so much. But the thing about those two, is that they’d always ask why he is wandering around Ilex Forest. Ever since the three were tasked with staying in Azalea Town, Lance would try to abscond into the forest to have time to himself. It was easy getting past the gatekeepers who didn’t do a great job gatekeeping. But it wasn’t easy alluding Naruto or Kakashi, who by order of his parents, would start escorting him back immediately. Kakashi would be nice about it, but Naruto had no problem herding Lance back with the use of his Ninetales.

However.

Shiro wouldn’t. Whenever it was Shiro who found Lance, instead of taking him back to the village (and to the scolding his family would bestow on him), Shiro would simply stay by Lance’s side. They wouldn’t say much, but the silence was golden. It felt right in ways that Lance didn’t know he could enjoy. When around other people, Lance didn’t really keep quiet. Instead, he’d talk. He’d talk about whatever came to mind, without tactful thinking or consideration for what the other might want to talk about, if at all. He’d talk to fill the silence with something. He’d talk just to move something (that being his lips). He’d talk so that he wouldn’t have to hear his thoughts about worrying for the village and desiring to leave it and have an adventure for once in his life.

He’d talk just to cope with staying confined. He’d talk just so that maybe he could get the feeling of being in Azalea Town for too long out of him. And sometimes, it was a good distraction. Other times, it wasn’t.

But when Shiro would sit by him at the shrine, with his only greeting was a gentle touch to the shoulder and a smile without a word slipping from his cute face (okay, extremely cute, that’s what Lance thinks of when he thinks of Shiro), he would feel the silence, even with the other present, nice.

The silence would suddenly not be something Lance tried to ignore, but felt at ease in.

Though today, Lance decided.

He wants to know about Shiro.

* * *

 

_(Present day)_

“As much as we’d like to discuss this more, I sense another being, one similar to your lion, will be landing on this planet shortly.” Arceus stated. His tone was adamant, as if to state that there will be no further discussion until further notice. Lance could only shake his head vertically to agree.

“W-wait! Arceus – er, I mean Sir, Father? I don’t know what to call you but…is this, will this be the last time I see you again?” Lance stuttered.

“Of course not, Lance. What I need of you for now is to find that other lion.”

“O-okay.” Damn. How will Lance ever adjust to being near such a legend (and one that is a bit more important than Shiro on the grand scale of the gosh-darn universe if at that), he’ll never know.

With the stomp of His pointed hoof, Arceus made the glowing room disperse as if it were the core of an exploding firecracker. All of the light slowly disintegrate, particles and beams of light slowly glittering before vanishing. The lights glowed like fireflies, dancing around Lance’s head as they ascended. As with the lights, so too, had the other beings faded away; first Xerneas, than Dialga and finally Arceus, who gave a firm nodded at the Blue Paladin. When the last of the lights vanished, Lance came to realize that he was back in the same cave as he were in earlier.

In the faint echoes of the wind, only to be followed by Lance’s pounding heart, he could hear a faint crash in the distance before being met with silence again.

The fire was still glowing orange, but the first thing that immediately caught Lance’s attention was Blue Lion. The paint on the lion’s armor was no longer caked in ice or mud. The glimmer shone bright, as though the entire spacecraft was glossed over in a new coat. All the scratches, the dents, even the smashed glass on the Blue Lion’s face…they were fixed.

A silent pulse radiated throughout the cave before bouncing off Lance, and he could feel it as though it were a message.

The Blue Lion was operational again and quite happy about that. In that weird symbiotic-telepathic connection that every paladin has with their lions, Lance could certainly detect the subtle joy.

“How did you get fixed?” Lance exclaimed at the tall machine.

“You can thank me later! C’mon, let’s go find that other lion!” Celebi reminded Lance, tugging at his arm again.

Wasting no time, the two boarded Blue Lion, ready to trek out the snow once more.

* * *

 

_(Ilex Forest)_

“What’s your favorite color?”

For the first time in the last couple of weeks that they have been doing this, Lance broke their comfortable silence with such an innocent question.Of all the things he could have asked, was that really the best he could do? The warm air made it hard to tell for Lance to determine if he were blushing.

Because right now, Shiro was staring at him, with astonishment.

Instead of snorting, or asking why in return, Shiro responded with “I like black.”

Turning away from the Celebi’s shrine, the two were facing each other. When the clouds shifted to the east, the light of the sun began to shine at the right angle, and Lance saw that Shiro was glowing, a calm but very pleased line curving into a grin as he looked back.

It only made Lance’s heart surge like wave crashing down.

-+-+-+-

Lance liked water. From choosing the Water Stone to make his precious Eevee into Vaporeon, to always hanging out by Celebi’s shrine (which wasn’t far from a pond), to always wearing outfits shaded in multitudes of blue (the color of water, duh), Lance had an affinity for the element.

And so, he likened his very being, his iconic personality and soul to water. His free-spirited, go-getter attitude could be waves after waves, crashing and rising excitedly in an ocean. When he is alone, wanting his alone time, wanting some peace of mind, he felt all his being focusing to still a pond, the ripples slowly coming undone until eventually the waters shook no more and clarity was apparent as his own reflection. When Lance needed to be headstrong and determined, his will was of water freezing over, and in place, his fortitude stood tall like an icy glacier.

Lance liked water, and liked the idea of being compared to water because it was the embodiment of who he was.

So when Shiro (whether he was humoring Lance, or genuine in his questions) started to ask Lance questions just as much as he would ask the shinobi, Lance could feel all the water in his soul kindle into a hot spring, the basking warmth so foreign and so enchanting. The hours suddenly felt too fluid. His days went by quicker when they were apart, whether Shiro was attending to his duties and his missions, or when Lance was needed by his family and the villagers.

He wanted to hear Shiro’s voice more.

He wanted to answer all Shiro’s questions.

He wanted to spend the sunny days, next to their pond by Celebi’s shrine, with Shiro, listening to every story the man has to tell.

Oh God, did Lance just want Shiro.

The geyser that was Lance’s heart was so close to bursting with joy.

-+-+-+-

“Lance, you had once said you wanted to try food from Kanto, right?” Shiro asked shyly. Lance perked up from where he was lying, eyes finding Shiro standing there.

“Yeah, I would like to try it. I mean I would if I ever get the chance to leave this town. Why?”

“And you have always wanted to see what the world is like beyond Azalea Town and Ilex Forest?”

“Yeah! But why are you asking me this?”

“Well, I got good news and I got bad news.”

“Go on?”

“Bad news…my duties to Azalea Town had been finished. Naruto, Kakashi and I have to return to Ecruteak City.”

“Oh…umm, when are you leaving?”

“Wait. I’m not finished, Lance. I wanted to ask you something.” Shiro said. The way he was smiling so earnestly, it made Lance a little giddy with happy anticipation.

“What’s up, Shiro?”

“I want to travel the world. When the war with Kanto is done, and I can stop being a ninja, I want to see everything there is out there. I want to start with Kanto. And I’d like for you to come with me. What do you say, are you in?”

All of a sudden, the rising waters, the rain, the ponds and waterfalls, all that composed Lance’s very being, came cascading dramatically at the offer that Shiro made.

“Yes!” Lance cried, throwing himself at Shiro, latching onto the older man with glee.

* * *

 

_(Present day)_

Lance was a decent survivalist. A part of training at the Mossdeep Space Academy was that they, as new recruits, had to be capable of surviving whatever circumstances they find themselves in. Whether it be a distant planet, the deserts back on Earth or stranded on a defunct space station, Lance tried hard to recall all that he could, and for that he was decent at best. He was capable of herding his space lion into a giant cave, heal a new Pokémon that annoyed him, and discover that he is a reincarnating-immortal-thing, so obviously he has to learn how to get by somehow. Right now time wouldn’t allow him to panic. It shouldn’t be any kind of surprise that Lance would very much like to be in a room by himself, away from this big scary legendary Pokémon and away from any potential team members that could hear him hysterically ask himself repeatedly just how did he end up in this mess. But can’t. His focus, for once, has to go somewhere. It has towards getting back to those team members. It has to go towards defeating Zarkon.

It has to go towards seeing Shiro again.

After traveling approximately 13 or so miles, Lance found himself at the edge of the icy wasteland that he crash landed upon. From there on over, the land stopped and the horizon only met what could be a frozen sea.

“The other lion went into the water. I have a feeling that it may not be suited for that kind of environment though.” Celebi disclosed, “I’m not exactly meant for cold water either.”

“Should I just leave you behind here in Blue?”

“What? No, that’s a stupid idea.” Celebi protested.

“Then what do you purpose, Ms. I-Can’t-Get-Wet? The only other thing I can do is catch you and put you in a Pokéball.” Lance argued, pulling out the small device. He noticed Celebi giving the Pokéball a very disgruntled look.

“Do I have to go in that thing?”

“It’s that, or get bored waiting in here.”

“Ugh fine. You know Lance, you used to be tons more fun back then.” The Time Travel Pokémon grumbled, floating towards the back part of the cockpit as to give room for Lance to toss the ball.

“What are you talking about, I’m _loads_ of fun!”

“You’re a load of _something_.”

“That’s it! In you go!” Lance screeched, a bit miffed by that comeback, chucking the Pokéball. Celebi gave a smug smirk before becoming converted by the red laser emitted from the Pokéball. She was then zapped away, and the red ball clattered against the cockpit floor. It shook, swaying left and right three times before being caught

“You were a lot cuter back then.” Lance retorted with the same smugness.

“I heard that!”

How the green gremlin not only heard that but shot back at Lance telepathically was a complete surprise. Lance sighed before storing the Pokéball back into his armor. This Pokémon seems more suited for Pidge than himself.

Taking a moment to brace for the incoming impact, Lance finally pushed forward on the thrusters. His lion gave one proud roar before diving head first into the depths.

-+-+-+-

Turns out that the other lion to arrive in this tundra was Hunk, much to Lance’s relief; he would have felt things escalate direly if he were stranded with Keith, and things would have been more awkward if he were to be with Shiro. The only other person asides Hunk that Lance would have been perfectly fine with would have been Pidge. Still, it made Lance very happy to be here with his best friend.

The only thing dampening the mood (both figuratively and the fact that they are literally floating around in an alien sea) was the fact that they still had no set coordinates to find the Castle of Lions, and furthermore, Hunk’s Lion seems to be out of commission (Hunk blames the fact that they are submerged, and Lance partially agrees because Blue seems to be swimming around just fine).

“Hunk! Are you okay?!” Lance hollered joyfully.

His first immediate response was the sound of Hunk throwing up.

Gross.

“I’m fine…” Hunk replied, though his voice was hinted with nausea.

“You just threw up, didn’t you?”

“Well yeah, you would too if you were sucked out of a wormhole at light speed, and then crash landed on an ice planet and ended up under water.” Hunk flatly stated, much to Lance’s annoyance.

For a brief moment, it occurred to Lance that Hunk must have drifted around that wormhole a little longer if he just plummeted here recently. How long has he been on this planet? The alarms in Hunk’s lion were blaring.

“That is what happened to me! Hunk, my main system is somewhat working, but I don’t think it’s operational enough to get us both out. What about yours?”

“I’m running on reserve power, but otherwise, I guess you can say my lion is _dead in the water_.”

See, this is why Lance is grateful for Hunk. Even in the face of trouble and absolute chaos, he’s still somewhat jolly enough to make a pun out of this wet mess.

“Hunk, this situation is bad enough. Don’t make it worse with puns.”

Although Blue Lion was freefalling (free-floating? Lance didn’t know how to properly state it because he knows she can actually swim but in an endeavor to save some energy, she should probably rest) just fine, Hunk’s lion, being much bulkier and more affiliated with Earth (much like Hunk’s own Pokémon team full of Rock types and Ground types) was sinking tremendously faster.

“I’m pretty surprised we landed right onto a planet; Pidge said roughly 90% space was mostly empty.”

“Well Pidge was clearly wrong for once.”

“We need to contact the others and regroup ASAP, Lance.”

“Agreed. Are you doing okay on oxygen?”

“Yeah, I’m doing jus – AGHH!”

Neither of them were paying a lot of attention, but the Yellow Paladin and his lion struck seafloor head first. Lance could only hear the commotion as his descended feet first like a normal cat.

“Hunk! Are you okay?”

The second round of Hunk’s vomiting could be heard over the microphone and the sticky sound was now making Lance a little sick.

“I’m – ugh – okay. Just bumped my head against Yellow. We should probably check for damage.”

“Gotcha buddy.”

-+-+-+-

How the Blue Lion allows Lance to depart from it without filling up immediately with water is a mystery to Lance but he didn’t have a moment to spare. Grabbing one of his Pokéballs, he pressed the grey button, and the ball pinged open, the red light taking the form of the Dragon Pokémon.

“Kingdra!”

“Dra,” replied the blue dragon, rushing to Lance’s side to rub his snout against his master.

Turning on a high-beam light from his arm, the two easily made their way towards the Yellow Lion. Propelling himself with his jetpack, Lance felt exuberant swimming about.

The water felt unnaturally _warm_ , the heating unit built into the paladin armor becoming unnecessary. Looking around, Lance could see they were by an underwater canyon. Thousands and thousands of coral pillars stood everywhere, their shapes squiggly and their colors an array of pinks and purples. The seaweed on this planet entrenched every surface, from the corals to the cracks, swaying serenely. If it weren’t for the water itself, it would have been vaguely reminiscent of Ilex Forest itself.

What worried Lance was that there were barely any fish or marine life here. Scarcely any fish were around. What Lance did see, most of them were exotically colorful, some with weird antennae and luminescent rods while others had abnormal shapes and sizes, some even had multiple eyes (Lance thinks he even saw one with multiple mouths; whatever that thing ate, Lance sure hopes it wasn’t humans). Kingdra fluttered about, humming as he surveyed their surroundings while Lance inspected the Yellow Lion.

“Hunk, it looks like Yellow seems to be okay, but we’re gonna need help getting him out of the water.”

In the corner of his eyes, Lance felt something swim by too quickly.

Something not so fishy. Lance could feel himself being watched.

“Dra.” Chimed Kingdra. Turning around, Lance could see the Dragon Pokémon pointing his snout towards one of the rock.

“Hunk?”

“Yeah Lance?”

“I have a feeling we’re not alone down here.”

* * *

 

_(Ilex Forest)_

It wasn’t often that Lance would come to Celebi’s shrine upset.

Of course his parents would refuse Shiro’s offer. Of course it sounded too good to be true. Of course Lance would listen to his parents. He was raised to care for his family, and that includes obeying them too. His siblings, the villagers, they need him. And he knows that he is fated to take care of this village, because one day his parents will leave this world and when that day comes, he has to take over and become leader of Azalea Town.

It just hurts. It just hurts so much.

Even the sunny weather and the cheery babble of the Poliwag and Caterpie wouldn’t cheer Lance up. He could still hear the echoing voices of his parents and family fighting vehemently against his desires to leave Azalea Town. He could hear them reminding him how important this town is and how he can’t just turn his back on his duties.

So Lance sat by the shrine, face scrunched up from trying to stop himself from crying anymore. His eyes had small bags under them from lack of sleep. His cheeks felt stiff from the dried tears. He came here at the early hours of the morning, when no one could see him looking upset. If there was one other thing he learned from his family asides from being obedient was that he shouldn’t show his negative emotions to others. If something provoked him greatly, he would muster all his willpower to silence the storm that outraged within him. He would cry and break down in isolation, not once showing these woes to anyone except himself. His Pokémon would try to comfort him when they did see this side of him, yet even then, he’d only recall them to their Pokéball so that he wouldn’t inconvenience them.

“Lance?”

Lance didn’t bother to turn around and face Shiro. The other man sat next to Lance, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder as they sat without saying anything. There wasn’t anything needed to be talked about.

Shiro reached out a hand, offering it to Lance to hold. Lance took it, grasping it tightly as his eyes began to fail him. The crying began again. After a moment of just sitting there, Lance clung onto Shiro, crying into his shoulder as they hugged.

“I really wanted to go…”

“I know you do, Lance.”

Letting him go, Lance gazed at Shiro. He saw how Shiro’s hair, despite its ruffled look, made him look so stunning. Shiro’s dark brown eyes were so pretty, and Lance couldn’t think of any other way to say it. They were pretty, and if it weren’t for Shiro’s calming voice, Lance wouldn’t mind spending all the time he could gazing back at those eyes.

All the time spent here, together, it made Lance realize somethings; first was that now, more than ever, he wants an adventure. He wants to truly see the world. Whereas before, it was just a pipedream, now it’s a goal for him. He’ll do whatever it takes. He’ll obey his parents and take care of Azalea Town but the moment he becomes leader, he’ll try to find a successor so he can go. And then, he’d see the world. He’d see all the other towns that he hears about but never seen, he’ll travel and try everything and anything his curiosity sets him out to do. And he’ll do it all with Shiro.

Which brings him to his second epiphany; he likes Shiro. He likes how kind the man is, how brave and gentle, and sweet and funny he can be. He likes how Shiro actually tries to listen to what he has to say and in turn gives his opinion, no matter how trivial or stupid Lance’s questions and statements were. He likes Shiro more than a friend should. He liked him the way Lance normally liked girls, and the fact that Shiro was a boy was pretty damn fine with him if he were being completely honest.

So on impulse, without actually considering how Shiro may have felt in return, or how what he was about to do might have some major consequences, Lance looked Shiro straight into his pretty eyes and blushed deeply before closing his eyes, giving into his desire and swiftly giving Shiro a kiss on the cheek.

Pulling away, the expression that Shiro made left Lance absolutely flushed with his cheeks burning a cute shade of pink. This time, Shiro leaned in, and instead of on the cheeks, his lips met Lance’s.

Everything came crashing into Lance chaotically, like a delirious maelstrom, all the feelings, all the joy and happiness was dancing in circles inside his heart. Like a dam broken finally, rain storm finding the lost man in a desert, a waterfall plummeting into a majestic valley, Lance could feel everything fall right into place with Shiro’s soft lips against his own.

Lance could feel himself reclining, his back meeting the grass with Shiro on top of him. The kisses, each one, it keeps leaving Lance breathless. The pauses, the intervals where their lips would part and Shiro and Lance could look at each other before going back at it, all of this has made Lance’s head spin endlessly in ecstasy. Hands, they went everywhere. They held Lance’s side. They pressed against Shiro’s kimono. They grabbed one their bottoms eagerly. They could feel the pulses of Lance’s heart. They could feel how strong Shiro’s muscles were.

When they parted again, Shiro pressed his forehead against Lance’s own, their breaths utterly ragged and cheeks taut and pink.

There were a lot of things Lance could say right now. He could make a lame joke. He could ask why. He could tell Shiro why he kissed him. He could even ask him if they could kiss again. But instead, Lance said this.

“Please don’t go.”

* * *

 

_(Present day)_

Lance likes to think about his new memories. They come like synchronized waves of the ocean, each aligned and they come and go in intervals that are more so refreshing than they are terrifying as they crash and foam on the theoretical beach known as brain. Lance knew that sometimes bad memories will arise during the intervals, but he knew that whatever caused him to lose his memories, whatever caused him to keep living and dying without remembering anything (whatever caused him to forget his past lives, Lance wants to know how and why).

Now, to the end of this point, Lance likes thinking about those memories, including the bad ones, because they remind him of like a TV show with a convoluted plot that twists in turns at every corner except they all have him as the main star! And in return, it allows him to escape from his current predicaments, at least in small doses. Namely like the one he is in now.

Fighting a giant alien plant-eel that apparently fed mind-controlling food to a bunch of poor merpeople.

The Baku (said gigantic alien plant-eel) ravaged the ocean canyon. While Hunk’s lion seemed to only doggy-paddle in the water, Lance and Blue were gliding fluidly within the watery terrain. Between icy laser beams and the Bake being an elusive fuck, Lance was able to lure the beast all over the place, giving Hunk enough time to try and trap the Baku underneath a rock.Only for the rock to shatter. The beast was too big for Lance to send out his Water Pokémon, so his only resort (which wasn’t a bad option to begin with) was utilizing Blue Lion, the wickedly awesome port that was radiating with a strong urge to stab it with his bayard. Long story short, Lance was impressed. Blue was capable of making a sonic-boom cannon (top that, Mullet-Head!).

But there was a sinking feeling that lingered in Lance.

Why are these memories his? It’s an assload of stuff to process if Lance were to be blunt about this situation.

And Shiro…

Oh dear God and Arceus above, Lance didn’t know what to do about Shiro. He doesn’t know how to feel about Shiro, but God, Lance wants to ask him so badly. He wants to ask him what life was like during those times. He wants to ask why Shiro kissed him all those years ago. He wants…

He wants to ask if Shiro still feels the same way.

As Queen Luxia and her Gorebyss began to set up the old energy beacon, Lance could only think about all the words and all the flashbacks that keep flooding Lance’s confused head.

Lance licked his lips, and for a brief elusive second, he thought he could taste a hint of what Shiro’s own lips were like against his own again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pokédex
> 
> Legendary Pokémon  
> • Xerneas, the Life Pokémon  
> • Celebi, the Time Travel Pokémon  
> • Dialga, the Temporal Pokémon  
> • Arceus, the Alpha Pokémon  
> • Giratina, the Renegade Pokémon
> 
> Regular Pokémon  
> • Magikarp, the Fish Pokémon  
> • Poliwag, the Tadpole Pokémon  
> • Beedrill, the Poison Bee Pokémon  
> • Gorebyss, the South Sea Pokémon  
> • Eevee, the Evolution Pokémon  
> • Ninetales, the Fox Pokémon
> 
> Lance’s Pokémon  
> • Vaporeon, the Bubble Jet Pokémon  
> • Kingdra, the Dragon Pokémon


	3. Episode 03

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was honestly having a hard time with this chapter, but I like how it turned out. Hope you guys enjoy this one too!
> 
> Thank you!  
> -Fckyeahcc

_(Present day, rock canyon on a distant planet...)_

The silence was thick and tense, but predictable.

Shiro wasn’t surprised though. Not in the least bit. Between the cumbersome healing pulses that Gardevoir and Keith’s Gallade were making, and trying to propose upon Keith a backup plan for Voltron by making him second in command, Shiro was not in the least bit surprised that Keith was not on board with this back up plan. Driving away those space lizards wasn’t an easy task. Between trying to command his Greninja to help Keith’s own team while struggling to stay still, their situation was not looking too great. Shiro was beginning to rethink what he counts as miracles; it was lucky he landed on the same planet as Keith, but they are far from a miracle in terms of the Castle of Lions locating them.

At least it was safe (and by far spectacular given the circumstances) that Keith does have the potential to command Black Lion.

“Shiro, you need to stop talking like that.” Keith pleaded.

He was actually pleading. In the lifetime that Shiro has known Keith, he has known that only he would ever bare such concern, such worry for him. But the thing is…what Zarkon and the Galra Empire possess.

They are the only thing in this universe powerful enough to not only overwhelm Shiro, but bring his eternal life to an end. And it isn’t say Shiro is making a hefty gambit, nor does he want to. Without any doubt, Shiro isn’t going to just throw his life and his mission for Arceus away…it’s just that for once, this is the limitation of his powers. This is where he can no longer expect to just survive anything without so much as a bruise.

After all, if almighty Shiro, the incandescent champion in the name of Arceus, lost his arm because of the Galra and…the dark one…then Shiro has to be careful. He has to ensure that Arceus will be found and protected and that even if he were to die, Keith and Lance will both continue with this mission to end Giratina and effectively, the Galra.

This was a contingency plan.

“I just think-“

“Shiro, you’re going to make it. We’re going to make it. You’re not going to die, end of story.” Keith argued, voice mixed between the collision of anger and sadness. This was something that Shiro will have to discuss with Keith later.

“You don’t know that, Keith.”

“I do know that! I did not spend almost half a millennium by your side to watch you give up. And I certainly did not spend half a millennium by your side just to watch get so close to fixing Lance, I mean come on!” Keith growled.

That was, from what Shiro was used to, not expected. Making Lance immortal was an accident gone horribly astray in all the most wonderful and amazing aspects, but Keith was intentional and not only that, but it was one of the best decisions Shiro has ever made regarding that. With that, after each repeated heartache Shiro had endured, every disappointing drawback that stood between him and Lance, Shiro didn’t think that Keith cared about as much about Lance like he did.

“I didn’t think it’d bother you.”

“Well it does, okay? Lance is an idiot. If anything, he’s _the_ biggest idiot I have ever met. But he’s good for you. And it sucks that he can’t remember. You’re not going to die, you are going live and see this through and fuck, Shiro, I’m going to get it through both of your thick skulls so I can finally stop seeing you look all depressing while Lance is off throwing one-liners on some random alien.” Keith finished, huffing exasperatedly.

Shiro could only smile, feeling a bit more grateful

-+-+-+-

Immortality is both a blessing and a curse. It’s a blessing because time no longer feels relevant. Seconds become minutes, which become hours and days, all the way into weeks, months, years and so on as the clock ticks one second forward. It was because of this that allowed someone like Shiro to suddenly stop looking forward and instead, to look around. It allowed him to see the world for all it had to offer. To see history engrave itself from stone to paper to the digital age in electronic screens and holograms. It allowed him to see change for the better. There are times where Shiro wonders what death might have been like. After being alive for a thousand years, there were times where Shiro had wondered what it might have been like to find release in the ethereal afterlife. To drive a blade through his chest. To freefall off a cliff. To sample a drop of poison. The gift of invincibility and the ability to control the appearance of his age, was at best, novel in the beginning but now Shiro wishes that he could age. He wishes that he could see himself grow closer to the fine dust of the universe, but that will forever allude him. Shiro had watched good people suffer, and no, he isn’t saint. He’s done enough things in his lifetime to know that killing people isn’t okay, nor is it okay to use Pokémon to prolong war. Sometimes, he wonders why Arceus had chosen him. As the stars glimmered darkly in the skies, Shiro would look up to not find an answer. He didn’t know what the right signs were. It has been a long time since he has last spoken to Arceus about the purpose of being their “champion.”

Some tragic title that was.

So Shiro lived. He lived during the Kalosian War. He lived through Groudon and Kyogre being reawakened multiple times (seriously, how?!). He lived through Xerneas and Yvetal being spirited away from Earth after their moments were spent trying give and take life. He lived through the advent of the Pokéball. He lived through the shinobi wars. He lived through so much. And although times are somewhat getting better, the aching curiosity lived in him as long as he has. He wonders why Arceus did choose him. This life has left too much unanswered to him.

Then it happened. He stopped wondering about death the day he met Lance. He stopped wondering the day Lance kissed him. He stopped wondering, and for the first time in a long time, it made Shiro feel every bit as close to human again.

-+-+-+-

The moment the Castle of Lions appeared in the beige arid sky, Shiro and Keith both released a breath of raw relief. Immediately, Pidge’s lion zoomed into view, thrusters booming with much welcome.

There wasn’t a moment to spare. Shiro needed medical attention. When both Paladins withdrew their Pokémon, Shiro felt his side throb, his pain demanding to be felt until his breath drew short of a whisper. Pidge didn’t ask questions. With both his arms slung on each shoulder, the three walked gently into the Green Lion, making sure Shiro was positioned upright and Keith stabilized him while their youngest pilot bolted straight back to the floating castle.

Allura didn’t ask questions when she stepped into the hangar, only to find Shiro being dragged in by Pidge and Keith. What she witnessed was more than enough for her to set up the operating room to undo whatever magic and corrupted quintessence that those druids used to harm Shiro.

She set to work as the door locked shut.

* * *

 

_(Elsewhere...)_

The hangar was eerily quiet, and the echoes of the other residents could be heard further away. The light of the traction beam didn’t take long for them to collect Lance and Hunk’s lions. It suddenly occurred to Lance that he’ll be seeing Shiro again. He’ll be seeing him, and yet unlike before, Lance actually knows who Shiro is and all the past memories and everything.

Lance is, by all means, nervous as fuck.

What is he going to do? Should he talk to Shiro about before? Should he keep it to himself? What about the others? Do they know? Lance doubts it though because not once has anyone ever mentioned anything about Shiro’s extremely long and enduring life. Yet, even with the mind-melding exercise to build team bonding, no one had seen anything in Shiro’s mind other than piecing together Voltron and holy fuck, like how has Shiro done it? How has he lived so long? How has he survived all of this?

Lance was too busy thinking and overthinking (shocker, I know) to not realize that the moment they got out of their respective lions, it was only Coran present, albeit with a ragged expression on his face.

“Coran! Oh it’s so good to see – wait, where’s everyone?” Lance asked.

“Oh! Lance, my dear boy, everyone is in the medical bay. Allura is tending them right now. Are you in any need of assistance?”

“No, I’m okay, and so is Hunk. Is everything alright?”

“I’m afraid not. Keith and Pidge are fine, but Shiro has seen better days. He has sustained a relatively critical wound, one done by druid magic.”

To hear that Shiro was hurt was enough for Lance to ask no further questions. He immediately left the hangar, Coran calling after him to no avail.

-+-+-+-

Left.

Right.

Up one flight of stairs.

Find the elevator in the third corridor in the west wing.

Walk past the bedrooms.

Ignore the bust of King Alfor that remains in the hallway.

First door to the right after said statue.

These directions took time for every paladin to remember, but Lance knew where to go. It the amount of distance between him and his destination was the problem. Each second he got closer, he felt more time slow down, and in turn slow him down. When he got to the west wing, the door beeped open, Pidge and Keith stepping out.

“Lance!” Pidge cried with relief. The minute the two saw each other, Pidge threw herself at Lance, hugging him tightly with joy at being reunited again.

“Pidge, Keith! Where’s Shiro?!”

“He’s in a healing pod. We just left because Allura needs to concentrate to help Shiro.” Pidge answered.

At the of that sentence, the blue light that beamed around the edge of the door’s frame like a neon rim suddenly glared red, as if to indicate the door being locked. From the other side, Lance and the others could feel the room go still as if all its inhabitants left.

Lance didn’t realize it but his eyes were wet.

“Lance, are you crying?” Pidge noticed.

“I’m uh, I’m fine. Definitely not crying, not at all,” Lance responded, immediately swiping at his wet eyes. But they hurt. His eyes were hurting with worry. He didn’t give them a chance to press questions any further. Turning around, Lance went to the only room where no one would bother him.

-+-+-+-

Perhaps these memories, which once came in waves, now came as a clashing storm inside of him. A tempest whose cumulating clouds of worry and confusion bringing forth a bombardment of raining anxiety. They all came to Lance, and the more information he gained, the more confused he felt himself become.

In one of the staggering towers of the Castle of Lions, specifically the central tower, at its highest level was an observatory. What made this one significantly contrasting compared to Mossdeep City’s own observatories, was the fact that the entire ceiling was glass, showcasing the galaxies and nebulas that doted the vast darkness of space. In the center of the room was a circular couch, a break of space in between in front of the entrance of the room. The center of the room had a control panel that allowed Lance to view a digital dioramic projection of the universe if he chooses to view it.

Finding this room was a complete accident, mostly because Shiro and Allura had warned Lance not to go to this room, and more so because, Lance not being the type to always listen, went anyways and saw how pretty the room glowed underneath the stars after getting lost for a couple of hours in the towers on his day off. He got really lost, almost capping at five hours of wandering around until he found this room.

Whenever Lance’s thoughts would get the best of him and cause him to worry or become saddened, it was here that he would try to find his resolve. He’d come here whenever he felt like Keith’s critical comments became too much. He’d come here whenever he felt that Hunk and Pidge were a little more than annoyed with him. He’d come here when Allura and Coran didn’t understand his homesickness.

He’d come here whenever he felt as though he disappointed Shiro.

Lance would take his time coming here, the walk becoming a hike, a hike becoming a journey for his alone time. When he’d walk into the room, he’d recline back into the circular couch, face gazing up.

Today was no different.

Well okay no, that was a lie. Today was very different. Too much has happened and Lance wants to tell everyone. But he can’t. He doesn’t know if they will believe him except for Shiro. He doesn’t know if he is ready to truly face this mess, because here he is finding out his _very own_ life isn’t what it seems and to be stuck in outer space while having a very vivid identity crisis is not going to help anyone.

Even if he were to tell the others, their responses wouldn’t help much if he can’t figure out how he will feel talking to Shiro. How is Lance going to do just that? How is he going to face Shiro, knowing they kissed hundreds of years ago, or the fact that Lance and Shiro have history that Lance himself is beginning to remember and it –

Lance was not sure. He just didn’t know what to do.

Today was different because Lance is starting to learn who he really is and why he is here.

That, in itself, was terrifying enough.

-+-+-+-

Lance found himself in a labyrinth of onyx. Walls were everywhere. They were staggering and intimidating, glossy and crystalline with black reflecting back at Lance. This dream was a familiar sequence to Lance.

His belt was bare, his Pokémon not with him this time. It wasn’t the first time that Lance has had this dream. This was something he has known ever since he has left Earth, after all. This dream was reoccurring and Lance tried hard to predict the outcome of this dream repeatedly because it was something that haunted him. Even behind the smiles and the reassuring jokes and occasional flirty remarks, not everyone knew that Lance had nightmares.

This was one of them, the persistent kind that _always_ plagued Lance.

If there was one thing Lance was afraid of was that he was afraid of the dark. Traveling in space was a different story because it wasn’t dark. Not in the least bit, as stars and galaxies decorated the cosmos like safe nightlights, pulsing and glittering with possibilities. No, Lance was scared of absolute darkness. The crippling kind where all light faded, where all life melted away into the escaping horizon and Lance was forced to confront his isolation whether he wanted to or not. The freezing kind as his breath clouded, his skin crawling restlessly. The thing about darkness, to Lance, was that it reaffirmed, almost compounding the one fear he has worse than the dark itself.

The darkness reminded him that he was alone. That he was, and always will be alone.  

He made three right turns only to find a dead end.

Backing up, he made a left, then right, then straight, only to find another dead end.

Turning around again, he decided to try straight, then left, then left again, before running right and straight and right again.

No matter how predictable this dream was, it didn’t stop his heart from becoming anxious. It didn’t stop him from finding his brow crease and becoming damp with cold sweat. It didn’t stop his palms from becoming clammy, his grasp on reality slipping further as he tries to touch the black walls as to make sure he knew what was and wasn’t real. It didn’t stop him from feeling scared.

Time didn’t hold back. Soon enough, _it_ began to follow him.

A shadow would twitch ominously. When Lance would take a quick glance at the walls around him, he’d feel one of his _own_ reflections not move at the same time he did. He’d feel a haze fall the deeper he moved in the maze. The sky would dim and the stars that he followed like a hopeful beacon soon died off as true darkness escalated. It only served to make Lance pick up his pace, his feet now refusing to slow down for even a second.

But the ground would stretch, feet becoming miles in mere seconds, his destination, wherever that was, became increasingly impossible to reach. His frustration was so close to coming to fruition. Lance’s breath grew increasingly short, ragged even.

And then _it_ emerged from the shadows, a clawed hand belonging to a ghost with a white smoky head that flowed dauntingly as if it were Death itself. It floated on spike dreads of darkness, and its icy blue eyes stared back at Lance’s own sapphire eyes. The red, jaw-like protrusions that surrounded the beast’s neck glowed bloodily. The sight of it only forced Lance to run even more, his body getting even closer, closer, so much closer to giving up. But he continued. He continued to flee with as much speed as he could muster. Yet the ground transformed. The walls vanished into emptiness, where light no longer could stretch as Lance ran so blindly into the infinity of darkness. The ground pulled and pulled more, his body in motion but his distance shrinking between him and that _thing._

As soon as a clawed hand grasped Lance, he screamed.

-+-+-+-

Lance knew that dream and he knew it well because waking up, he could feel his heart nearly burst from its seam and almost out his ribcage with dire panic. Eyes were wide awake and open. From the jolting motion, Lance felt two of his Pokéballs break open, his concerned Pokémon immediately coming to his aid. Lance came face to face with Vaporeon and Milotic, the former sitting on his lab with a worried look while the other coiled defensively, trying to look around the room. Lance could feel Vaporeon’s little paw press against his chest, before he gave a small concerned huff as if to check if his master still had a pulse.

“Milo,” cooed the larger serpentine Pokémon.

“Guys, I’m okay.” Lance reassured them. They didn’t look so convinced though. “Seriously, no need to pop out of your balls again.”

“Vapor,” the little mermaid growled, as if he were asking Lance if he were so sure. Truth was no. Lance wasn’t sure. He didn’t understand why he had that nightmare again. For now, since he’s awake and in good company, he can try and forget it. To calm his nerves, he started to talk to Milotic and Vaporeon.

He started to talk about his concerns. He started talking about how he misses home again. He would ask them questions, and even though they can only reply with partial bits of their own name, Lance was intuitive enough to know their tones were their answers. The longer they talked, the more Lance felt his worries trickle off, a storm becoming a drizzle. As the drizzle came to an end, Lance felt sleep reclaim him once more.

-+-+-+-

To Lance, as a Paladin of Voltron, he found the training that both Allura and Shiro put him through was grueling. Although target practice was of no concern, being the team’s sharpshooter (at least that’s what Lance likes to think of himself), hand-to-hand combat was not his forte. That was something that Shiro, Keith, Hunk (not so surprisingly) and Pidge (that was an actual surprise) were better suited for. Lance knew the basics to fend off whatever immediate threats faced him. That, however, didn’t guarantee that he could do it for long.

What Lance did enjoy doing though, was training with his Pokémon. He enjoyed the bonding he did with them because unlike the other members of Voltron (he did love them dearly but this Lance could honestly admit), his Pokémon didn’t judge him. They didn’t judge Lance’s semi-arrogant tendencies or moments where he’d make a brash decision that got both Lance and themselves hurt. They loved Lance with such unconditional love, they were willing to do whatever it took to both help and protect Lance. That could be said for almost all of them except for Celebi (because Lance doesn’t fully know how to feel about Celebi on his team quite yet) as well as that huge scary ghost bat (Lance has no idea what to call the thing that used to be Cosmoem).

Today, however, Lance knew that he had to get to know those one way or another, and that simply depended on him to train them.

As Lance made his way to the training deck, he first decided that he needed to see the medical bay.

He needed to check on Shiro.

-+-+-+-

For as long as Lance can remember, or at least within this current life that he is in, he has always hated hospitals. His family has always moved around, from the region of Unova (which was God awful, as Lance remembers it) to Slateport City. During the times in Unova, in the cities that were sprawled with thugs and assholes, so fights, muggings and other dangerous activities were commonplace. For Lance, finding himself or someone he cared about at a rundown clinic was something he did not enjoy. Not in the least bit. The smell of bitter medication. The ice cold steely touch of examination tables. The blinding fluorescent lights. They were all unpleasant to the Blue Paladin. But he would be willing to suppress this discomfort for someone he cared about.

The glow of the electric blue lights that lined the archways of the medical bay were on. When one enters the chamber, they come face to face with ten healing pods arranged in a circle. All the active ones would remain up, its occupant showcased as they rest in stasis while inactive pods were lowered and stored away into the floor. There would be three doors. The door to the north as a supply room, a room with all necessary medical equipment and medications that the Alteans have developed for safekeeping and use. The door to the east was a surgical room; that was the room that Allura had locked herself away in last night when she was helping Shiro. Seeing that the archway of that room in particular being off was a relief to Lance. The room to the west was a basic examination room, one where Coran usually would do basic checkups and physicals as needed.

Shiro was situated in the central pod within the room. It glowed a cyanic hue, an indication that healing was in process. Lance walked towards it, his cheeks blushing.

He was upset that Shiro was hurt; not because his hero was hurt, but because he didn’t know about it until recently and because there was nothing for Lance to do about it to help Shiro.

When Lance was younger (in this life) he had seen people he loved get hurt. He watched his parents defend him when someone would try to jump him back in Driftveil City. He had seen his older siblings get themselves and their own Pokémon badly beaten that even a Nurse Joy would highly be concerned with calling the authorities. He got his fair share of pain trying to protect his younger ones from the same problems. So, it would be expect of Lance to want to protect those he loves and cherish. It hurts him to see them injured. To stare at Shiro made him uncomfortable not because he was hurt, but because all he could do was stare as Shiro floated around in that incubation tube, the process ticking on by slower and slower.

Sometimes, Lance wondered. He wondered if he’d be good enough for Voltron. Sure, he was an excellent marksman (hell of a lot better than Shiro and Keith _and_ Hunk when it came to both using his rifle bayard as well as blasting away with Blue Lion), but that didn’t deter his worries, his fears, his own doubts that one day he might miss a mark, that he might fire a little too late, that he might mess up and fail his team. He worries that someday, someone might be in those healing pods because of him.

There were times where Lance didn’t think he was good enough. But that’s a concern he can keep to himself. That’s something only his Pokémon, will ever be allowed to hear while the others, even Hunk who is his best friend, will never hear slip from his lips.

Shiro’s eyebrow twitched. Was Shiro resting okay in there? Lance wasn’t too sure. Lance was sure that there were days and nights where Shiro didn’t relax. Those days, he’d either be mood, or worse, he’d be completely out of touch. He’d be lost, eyes glazed like he’s trying to figure out where he was, whether he was handling reality or remembering something during his time with the Galra Empire as their plaything in the arenas. Lance had seen these bouts a few times. Shiro would be rather pissed off, almost unapproachable at times, during training or in general outside of missions needing Voltron (of course this was rare in its own light) but other times, when Shiro was alone and Lance would encounter him perchance, he’d find Shiro staring off trying to deal with some trauma alone, or he’d find him trying to fight the trauma away until he thought he was ready to deal with it. Whatever it was, whatever Shiro was dealing with…Lance wish he could help him.

Shiro was still his hero, even if Lance couldn’t understand what he had with the man in the past right away.

To see Shiro not looked relax, even in those pods, was understandable. But Lance wondered, was Shiro having a nightmare? Was he being haunted by something behind his soft brown eyes? Lance didn’t know. He could hope for one day that Shiro might let him in.

A gentle touch tapped his shoulder. Lance turned around to find a rather exhausted Allura looking at him.

“Is everything okay, Lance?”

“Oh! Allura! I’m okay, princess! Never better.”

That was a lie. That was a very blatant lie. Lance knew he wasn’t okay because last night he had that fucked up dream with the spooky ghost again, and the last few days prior to that, he discovered that he was a reincarnating idiot who died a couple of times while being, in some sense, Shiro’s lover. Nothing was making sense to Lance. He was confused as hell. But he didn’t want to admit these confusions yet. So he lied.

“Are…are you sure? Coran had said you missed dinner last night. Pidge and Keith had told me that you looked upset when you came looking for Shiro?”

Well fuck, Lance was caught. But that still didn’t mean he was going to cave in yet.

“I’m okay, Allura. Really, I am.”

Before she could object, Lance made a hasty retreat.

-+-+-+-

“Okay! Everyone, time to come on out.” Lance called excitedly. Like missing his bed, he missed letting out his Pokémon to both train and play with. With the exception of Hunk, who probably did this more than Lance himself, Lance enjoyed playing with his Pokémon as much as he did training them.

Lance did not like training, in terms of paladin-related stuff. Unlike Shiro, an excellent pilot and leader overall, and Keith (as much as Lance hated admitting it, he admired Keith greatly for being a pilot prodigy and a pro at close combat), and Hunk (the dude was stone cold tank that was an amazing engineer), and even Pidge (girl was a computer whiz, and when needed, great at stealth and covert work), Lance was just, well, Lance.

He was great with shooting and reconnaissance work, but so was Pidge with her cloaking device and overall quick thinking while Shiro and Keith were good with shooting in their lions respectively. He was good at analyzing details, but so was Hunk. Okay, so maybe that wasn’t so reassuring. Lance didn’t know what his thing was, and yeah, he did like to think of himself as the team’s sharpshooter but that’s just a title. A title he gave to himself. Is he really good enough?

At least Lance knows his Pokémon greatly value him and think he is. Six ruby beams of light shot down on the ground like red-hot lightning and transformed into six Pokémon; Vaporeon, Kingdra, Milotic, Luxray, Celebi and…that bat thing (whom Lance is going to call Luna, as it keeps crying that, until Lance can figure out what Cosmoem had become). Once making sure that the training deck’s door was locked – because really, Lance didn’t need someone walking in on him training one Legendary Pokémon and another unknown would be an unnecessary surprise that would demand an equally unnecessary explanation – Lance released a sigh of relief.

At least now the fun can begin.

-+-+-+-

The training deck was a familiar place that Lance wasn’t always fond of. The electroshock maze and the multidrones that were used for team bonding were some of the equipment that Lance did not enjoy handling, so today, he opted for the Gladiator. The unique thing about the Gladiator was that despite its sturdy yet lithe form, it had a specialized program to counteract any opponent. It is capable of analyzing opponents, both paladins and Pokémon alike, and reacting to their weaknesses, from using opposing war tactics to using attack types opposite of the combatant Pokémon. It can use Grass-type moves against Lance’s team, which predominantly Water-types, for instance. The Gladiator, although mostly reliant upon Fighting-types, knows enough moves to counter every type, and it has the perfect timing for using both Counter and Mirror Coat when necessary.

Today it was the team’s turn at the Gladiator. When facing the paladins, the Gladiator would admit a cyanic light from its core underneath white armor that was lined with gold. In the pretext of facing Pokémon, the core would alter its light, and in response, the robot would assimilate a new glowing color to indicate a changing of type.

Lance set forth Luxray. As the black and blue lion stepped up to the fighting stage, the Gladiator shot an analyzing beam at Luxray, before its core light readjusted to a brownish orange glow, indicating a type change to Ground-type attacks.

“Go Luxray, use Discharge!”

The electrical lion gave a confident roar, and his eyes glimmered a striking yellow before opening his maw as it began taking in energy. The room’s aura was shiver inducing, and Lance could feel his hairs stand up as the Electric-type broke that energy, the striking bolts of electricity firing everywhere in an attempt to take down the Gladiator. The robot immediately began its erratic dance of evasion, limbs of steel flying every which way. The attack, despite Luxray having usually great accuracy, missed, but Lance was expecting this.

“Luxray, use Protect.” Lance called at the right time, seeing the Gladiator strike the ground with its fist. The shock wave simulated that of the move Earthquake, and right away the Gleam Eyes Pokémon forged a barrier to prevent injury.

One thing that Lance, as with all the other paladins, had learnt that this robot was not easily affected by status inducing moves when training their Pokémon. Tactics using moves such as Swagger (a Normal-type move to induce confusion) as well as Toxic (a very lethal Poison-type move) were out of the question considering that the robot, being ever-adaptable, was better off facing immediate and physical confrontation.

The Gladiator was preparing another assault, this time the cyborg raising both palms together against one another as the beams hidden in its hand released a rugged stream of mud at Luxray. It was trying to strike Luxray with Mud Shot.

Lance heard Luxray give an annoyed but determined huff.

-+-+-+-

The battle ended with Luxray being defeated. Even with the use of Electrical Terrain and Rain Dance, followed by bouts of Thunder and Thunderbolts, Luxray was out sped by the Gladiator. This fight went on a lot longer than Lance was expecting, almost going into three hours (instead of the usual 45 minutes). He was beginning to think that maybe Luxray had much pent up energy and spent more time in his Pokéball than Lance would like. The battle between the Gladiator and Vaporeon yielded similar results.

The Gladiator went into standby mode as Lance recalled Luxray back into his Pokéball. Although it wasn’t often, the Pokémon that the paladins had used when training with the Gladiator would faint. While Lance thought about using his other Water-types, a great idea suddenly sprang up for him.

Perhaps he could use Celebi for this training round.

“Celebi, it’s your turn!”

“Why.” The small green fairy bluntly objected.

“Cuz I said so.”

“No.”

“Well I said so.”

“Try again, Lance.” The green fairy teased, yawning.

“I want you to train because, well, I think it’d be a good way to get to know you.” Lance said. He wasn’t lying. Sure, in the small span of time Lance had Celebi caught from the ice planet, they seemed more prone to annoying each other, but so was Keith. Lance made an effort to somehow deal with Keith and he now has to do the same with Celebi.

“You really want to get to know me?”

“Yes?”

“Fine Lance, I’ll fight that piece of garbage.”

As Celebi floated towards the stage, the Gladiator perked up before analyzing his next opponent. The Gladiator then emitted a neon lemon-lime hue, an indicator it may begin using Bug-type moves. After a brief moment of silence, Lance waited as if to allow the Gladiator to make its first move.

With neck-breaking speed, the Gladiator placed its palms together again, this time firing threads of gooey webbing, mimicking the move String Shot, as it tried to lasso Celebi. To counter this, Celebi’s eyes beamed into the air a rectangle of energy, the color almost a rosy pink, as it completely deflected String Shot; so Celebi knew Reflect. Shot after shot of the Bug-type move only littered the stage. When the Gladiator was finished, Celebi immediately charged in. Because Lance didn’t know any of Celebi’s own attacks, he could only watch in awe as Celebi made a barrage of well-timed attacks.

Celebi steadied herself, and now her tiny arms were outstretched as she closed her eyes. When they opened, the white in her blue eyes suddenly glowed a mellow brown, and rocks began to materialize in the room, each engrossed in magenta color as Celebi controlled them. Lance could recognize this attack as Ancient Power. With the wave of her arms, the barrage of stone struck the Gladiator with unique precision that Lance has not seen before. None of the stones missed. The Gladiator had been blasted straight off the stage.

The robot gave a defeated beep before shutting down completely. The fight lasted no more than twenty minutes tops, a new record that even Keith has yet to beat.

Its steel core reverted back to a cyan color, albeit more dull and off. Lance didn’t know whether to celebrate seeing the Gladiator completely annihilated or worried that he just let one of his Pokémon destroy some valuable training equipment.

He chose the former of the two. “Celebi, that was amazing! I didn’t know you could do that!”

“That was actual fun, Lance. Do we have any more of those robots?” the green pixie asked.

“I dunno. I may have to ask Coran later about that.”

As Celebi fluttered downward, resting herself against Milotic, Lance began to train Kingdra.

-+-+-+-

Lance decided to save training Luna for later, while finishing up with Kingdra and Milotic. After each did their round, Lance recalled his fatigued Pokémon. Before he could recall Luna, he saw that it looked rather jealous at the others. The big bat gave an injured pout as if it were not fair that it did not get its turn.

“Did you want to try it?” Lance asked.

“Lun, luna!” the bat replied, eagerly nodding its head in agreement.

“Wait Lance.” Celebi warned, coming straight out of her Pokéball despite being recalled by Lance.

“Why, what’s wrong Celebi?”

“I don’t think it’s a good idea to train Lunala yet. She doesn’t seem to grasp what is going on.”

“You mean training?”

“Yes. She think you and the other Pokémon were ‘playing’ around.”

“Oh.”

“Anyways, I think it’s time we see Arceus again.”

-+-+-+-

“Arceus!” Lance exclaimed. The room once more shined brightly with a serene aura. As the other two Legendary Pokémon manifested, Arceus knelt down to the ground as if to become comfortable.

“We don’t get a hello?” Xerneas joked. Dialga looked rather disgruntled at both Xerneas’ casual remark and Lance shouting at Arceus. It still took Lance to get used to their presence. They were gods (and goddesses). One wrong word, and Lance would be blown away into smithereens.

When all four of them and Lance had settled in, the tension in the air came taut. The thing was this: Lance needed to ask them some serious questions. He needed to know why he is here with them again; it was something about a mission, right? What was this mission? Why was it him that was chosen?

It was dire that Lance learned. It was so critically dire because he has every right to know.

“Lance? Is something on your mind?” Xerneas asked.

“I – yes. I want to know…” Lance hesitated. “I want to know how I died. Like the first time. How did I die?”

* * *

 

_(750 Years Ago, Ilex Forest…)_

Lance hasn’t really been smiling as of lately. Since Shiro has left, Lance hasn’t really been as joyful or as bright as he had once been. He did his duties to Azalea Town as expected. He made sure to look after the kids and try to keep up with his studies. He tried to go to bed earlier as Shiro mentioned one time. He has tried to understand the politics behind the leadership his parents handle.

But…nothing really made him happy anymore. Everything was just stressful and just simply work for him. Shiro didn’t fail to reach out to Lance though, because it became a weekly appearance for Lance to now find a letter waiting for him in the mail. His parents said nothing about it. His siblings didn’t know why Lance was all depressed. But nevertheless, Lance did what was expected with him, all without complaints.

It’s been about three months now, since Shiro has left for Ecruteak City.

As Lance made his way to Celebi’s shrine, he stopped by the bakery to get some offerings. Today was his turn to clean the shrine, the first time in months. Whatever ninja duties that Naruto, Kakashi and Shiro had to deal with, it seemed completed if their village was no longer at-risk for some random attack.

When Lance finished cleaning the stone monument, he decided to sit by the pond this time, as to let Horsea and Vaporeon out. The two Water-types frolicked around, both enjoying their freedom from the confining orbs.

“Horsea?” the little dragon quipped. The two were now floating in the water, looking up at their master, who had a saddened look on his face.

“I’m okay guys. I’m okay.”

“Pore,” Vaporeon added, a hint of doubt in that statement. Lance then furrowed his brow at the little mermaid.

It was then Lance felt a warm hand touch his shoulder, a presence that went completely unnoticed. It was something Lance had to learn how to detect better, but he didn’t care.

Shiro was there, smiling down at Lance again. When Lance rose up, their eyes met again, and without wasting a single precious second, Lance pressed his lips against the older man’s own, mouths pressed so familiarly to one another.

-+-+-+-

Much to Lance’s dismay, Shiro was here regarding another mission. As such, Shiro wouldn’t have as much time to spend with Lance as he would have liked. But that didn’t stop the two from enjoying their intimacy when no one else was around. Not even Lance’s own family were aware of this. Shiro’s mission was reconnaissance; it became a concern that there were poachers spotted within Ilex Forest (this Lance was not aware of), and so to protect both the forest and Azalea Town, Shiro will be deployed here until further notice.

-+-+-+-

“Lance?”

“Yes, Shiro?”

“Have you told your parents yet?”

Lance emitted a rather unbecoming sigh at Shiro. This was a discussion that he didn’t want to have. Not yet at least.

“No.”

“I think you should. They are your family, after all.”

“I know. I just don’t think they’ll be ready.”

“Do you really want to wait more?”

Lance didn’t want to. But for now, he had to. The one thing that his family made very apparent was that they were not fond of change. They didn’t like the idea of forging new ways of doing things when, in their eyes, the old ways were better. But Lance liked change. He liked the idea of wanting to try anything beyond what he is used to. Lance didn’t want to think about the idea of telling his parents that he and Shiro were together.

Because already, they wanted him to marry a nice girl and have children, have _many_ children. Having children wasn’t much of a problem; Lance actually wants kids. It’s just that his parents won’t approve. They won’t approve of Shiro despite how he is greatly benefiting Azalea Town. They won’t approve because Shiro is like a changing breeze, a breath of fresh air that they cannot appreciate.

Lance knows, at the bottom of his heart that despite his love for his family and his home, they won’t approve of Shiro.

Today was a cloudy day. As Shiro sat with his eyes closed, Lance was able to enjoy lying down, his head resting on Shiro’s lap. These were the days that Lance lived for.

“Lance? I need you to sit up.” Shiro requested.

As Lance readjusted himself to face Shiro, he saw that Shiro had a serious expression on his face. It wasn’t often that Lance saw that face being gazed at him specifically, but he knew full in well that whenever Shiro needed him to listen, he always looked like that.

“What is it, Shiro?”

“I have something important to give you.”

The amount of anticipation burned within Lance. Shiro let his hands slip into his pocket as to search for something. Shiro then pulled out a small Pokéball, a small unique Pokéball that had a small little design on it. The ball in question was completely black, with tiny sparkles of blue. The small design was a crescent moon, its engraving shaded gold. In Lance’s hand, the ball was fairly heavy.

“Shiro? What is this?”

“Inside this Pokéball is a very important Pokémon. I need you to protect him.”

“Shiro…do you really think this is a good idea?”

“I trust you, Lance.” Before Lance could respond, Shiro kissed him again, his lips pressing against his blushing cheeks. It was decided. Lance will take care of this Pokémon.

“What kind of Pokémon is inside?” With the press of the control button, a red beam shot out and a cloudy blob. Its body shone like the night sky, hues of violets, sapphire, ocean hues and royal purples composing its being. Two gold bands appeared on the center of this Pokémon’s body, while two puffs were its arms. It blushed blue on its cheeks as two yellow eyes gaze back at Lance curiously.

“Pew?” the shy blue Pokémon greeted.

“Lance, this is Cosmog. Cosmog, this is Lance. For now on, he’ll be taking care of you.”

Immediately, the gaseous Pokémon nuzzled into Lance, cheering happily as Lance petted him in return.

Suddenly, the air turned tense. The winds began to coil and spring, forcing tree branches to whip around sharply. The two turned their attention to Celebi’s shrine as a beacon of light blasted through the forest, blinding them. A painful cry was hurt.

At the foot of the shrine was a small green body, one that looked horrendously tattered, one that look like it had seen more struggle and agony than it ever needed to see.

It was Celebi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pokédex - http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Main_Page  
> Pokémon Types - http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Type
> 
> Legendary Pokémon  
> • Xerneas, the Life Pokémon  
> • Celebi, the Time Travel Pokémon  
> • Dialga, the Temporal Pokémon  
> • Arceus, the Alpha Pokémon  
> • Lunala, the Moone Pokémon  
> Lance’s Pokémon  
> • Vaporeon, the Bubble Jet Pokémon  
> • Kingdra, the Dragon Pokémon  
> • Milotic, the Tender Pokémon  
> • Luxray, the Gleam Eyes Pokémon  
> Shiro’s Pokemon  
> • Greninja, the Ninja Pokémon  
> • Gardevoir, the Embrace Pokémon  
> Keith’s Pokémon  
> • Flareon, the Flame Pokémon  
> • Gallade, the Blade Pokémon


	4. Episode 04

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OMG. I was seriously not expecting this chapter to be this big. But it is. And it has a bunch of revealing shit going on. Okay, well I hope all of you enjoy this! Thank you!

_(750 years ago, Ilex Forest…)_

There was fire everywhere. The one thing that terrified Lance more than anything was fire, and it being everywhere, it made his head spin horrendously fast. Everything danced and died in the heat of angry orange. Lance kept running, cradling Celebi. He did not know how, but he knew with certainty that the poachers were nearby. The darting sounds of knives flying manically were not far at all. Hot. Everything was hot. Everything was so painfully hot. Lance could feel the soles of his feet aching as he tried to escape. But everything was on fire. The trees. The shrine. The safe place that Lance once ran away to. The voices of the intruders became increasingly pronounced even with the crackling and snapping of the dying flora. There wasn’t much Lance could do. Vaporeon wouldn’t be able to stand well in such a blazing environment and Horsea and Cosmog both were still too young to come out of their Pokéballs, let alone fight a fiery forest. Lance could only run.

He knew that he was being followed. Those clashing blades nearby was a good indicator of this. Run. Run. Run. Run until you are out of the fire. Run until you can see green again. Run until you are home. These thoughts flooded Lance much in the same as the adrenaline that forced him to continue running. The forest came as much alive as it was dying and now Lance could feel as though he has been running repeatedly, aimlessly as he tried to find his way out. With all the trees and landmarks set ablaze, he can barely recognize anything.

Lance was lost in the inferno. His head was dizzy from the lack of oxygen. Taking shelter in a clearing, Lance was forced to call out Vaporeon for help. Opening the Pokéball, the little mermaid was shocked to see this. Lance tore a part of his tunic off.

“Vaporeon, use Water Gun.” Lance commanded, holding the cloth in front of his companion. Nodding, the Bubble Jet Pokémon squirted enough water to not harm his master but to soak the cloth. Tying the wet cloth around his face like a mask, Lance was able to breathe better. The wet mask won’t protect his lungs but it’ll buy him enough breaths to continue his daring trek to escape the forest. Immediately, Lance recalled Vaporeon, despite the smaller creature’s protest to help his master.

It was then that Lance felt something definitely hover past his back. With a quick glance, he saw it was Shiro, deflecting a blade that was intended for him.

“Lance, get back to Azalea Town, now!”

“Shiro, what the hell is going on?!”

“I don’t have time to explain, but you need to go. I promise I will explain everything, but you got to first get back to Azalea Town.”

Shiro then forcibly grabbed Lance by the arm, lurching to the right as they took shelter behind an oak tree. The sheer monstrous strength that Shiro used to save Lance was awe-inducing to Lance. Lance heard three knives embed themselves into the tree. The younger boy looked up at Shiro, and Lance saw it. He saw the distant, focused, hardened gaze. This served to remind Lance that this was Shiro’s job.

“Lance, you need to-“

“I love you.”

“What.” Shiro uttered with absolute astound.

“I-I love you, Shiro. I needed to say this, I don’t know what the hell is going on, and I am scared but I need to say this because-“

Now it was Lance’s turn to be silenced as Shiro kissed him.

“Don’t talk like that, Lance. I promise to get you home safely. I love you too. Now, I’m going to give you cover, but you have to run when I give you the signal.”

The younger boy nodded in compliance, and under three seconds, Lance made a dash to the sign post. He knew that he was close to the gates. If he could get there, he could get help for Shiro. Lance took off again. He dodged as much as he could. Run in zig-zags, that’s what Shiro had ordered. Run and don’t look back. Lance has never once been in a warzone before. Never. Think. Think positive things, he forced on himself. He can recall how life in Azalea Town and in Ilex Forest has always been a peaceful one. No violence. No fires. No trouble. Everyone may have had occasional disagreements but compromise was always prevailing. No one got hurt.

But then, a shocking pain struck his left calf, forcing him to fall clumsily. A blade was lodged into his calf, and one twitch suddenly had Lance screaming in agony. The blade was fucking _torched_ , the ash and heat now digging into his flesh. Oh God, Lance thought shakily. It was then someone landed before Lance.

Celebi’s eyes cracked open, eyes shifting everywhere as she tried to process who the hell was cradling her.

The more Lance struggled, the more he could feel his head swimming between throes of blood loss and his mind practically draining logic as his mind was everywhere. The more he shifted, the deeper the knife went, and it suddenly occurred to Lance that although the knife itself didn’t break his bone, it was a narrow enough to not only pierce his skin but anchor him, going completely through his flesh as he was pinned to the ground like a helpless butterfly. Gripping the hot steel, Lance winced. He prepared himself. Counting to three, Lance yanked up, not enough to completely dislodge the weapon (unless he wants to risk severe bleeding), but enough to not be pinned down to the ground. Beginning to crawly, he clung to Celebi as he tried to near himself to a tree.

It was then the presence of a poacher made himself known, and Lance was face to face with the stranger

“Who are you?!” Lance cried shakily.

The poacher gave no answer. He only stepped forward. Lance found himself cornered. He had a blade lodged in his calf, his back against an ashy tree and the personification of Death walking right in front of him.

The poacher could only raise his blade at Lance.

The blade looked like an elongated sewing needle, tapered and slim but nonetheless lethal. The stranger came into full view; he was a tall gangly man, a mask hiding his face. It was a dirtied porcelain mask, miniscule wavy slits in place of its eyes. The man wore black fitted military top with black combat slacks. He wore bandages that adorned his neck like a mummified necklace. His hair was wild and purple, a hideous looking mane.

The man pointed his blade at Lance again, twitching the weapon as if to point at Celebi.

The poacher wanted Celebi that was obvious.

Instantaneously, the man hurled his blade at Lance, anchoring him into the tree by the shoulder. The younger boy cried again, screaming out for Shiro, for anyone to find him. As the poacher approached Lance, his arms gave into the agony, and he couldn’t bring himself to clutch Celebi anymore.

“O-Oh God, help! Please” Lance pleaded into the fire.

The poacher yanked the blade right out of Lance, and in that moment, Lance could feel his blood spurt violently from the wound. Seconds felt like decades and all feeling of reality was slowly melding into a blurry haze. Lance was having severe blood loss. His head, his eyes, his sense, all were mangled by his damaged body and just trying to keep his eyes open hurt the boy.

“Hand over Celebi. Now.”

“N-no.” Lance tried again to protect Celebi, this time placing her on the ground. He covered her with his own body, his back to the poacher now.

The man raised his blade for the final time, preparing for the last thrust.

As the man thrust down, Lance felt the blade pierce him, but this time, something was lodged between him and the poacher. He didn’t know his eyes were closed. They were closed shut, closed to try and hide from the agony and the fire. They were closed because Lance could no longer bear to look at the wounds. But he opened them.

To see that the blade did pierce him _and_ Shiro right through the chest.

Lance could only see black and only hear the mumbled pleads of Shiro’s voice, asking him to stay.

* * *

 

_(Present Day…)_

Lance couldn’t breathe. Oh dear God, he couldn’t breathe. It couldn’t breathe was his head showed him _that_. He couldn’t breathe. It felt as though all the smoke suddenly blossomed in his lungs like a toxic black rose. He couldn’t breathe. He choked, knees buckling at that horrid memory. Swiping at his eyes, Lance tried to stop his tears. He tried to steady himself. He tried to calm down, but _fuck_ he watched himself _die_. How can anyone just be _okay_ after that? How can anyone react to that with such calm dignity as if their very own death meant nothing?

He died.

He _fucking_ died.

He _fucking_ died in Shiro’s arms.

He _fucking_ died in Shiro’s arms, trying to protect Celebi.

He _fucking_ died in Shiro’s arms, and all he could hear was Shiro begging him to stay, begging him to not leave.

He _fucking_ died in Shiro’s arms, watching as the last moments were spent with Shiro back kicking the poacher with superhuman strength that he didn’t know he had.

He _fucking_ died in Shiro’s arms, watching as Shiro tried in vain to end his bleeding.

He _fucking_ died in Shiro’s arms, feeling the faint fluttery goodbye kisses as Shiro pleaded to Arceus and everything above for Lance to stay.

He can still hear the echoes, the string of helpless “I love you” being repeated hysterically by Shiro as warmth and cold went in all the wrong place.

“Does that answer your question, Lance?” Dialga questioned. Lance could only meekly nod his head. His cheeks were burning red, burning with a haunted anger and sadness that he has never felt before. The emotions swirled in him chaotically and Lance didn’t know what to do with them. His throat throbbed as if he swallowed a knife, the sharpness grating his airway.

“It is important for you to know what happened Lance. We are here to discuss an important mission.” Arceus stated.

Whoever killed him in his past life, Lance hoped that they had paid. He hoped that they died a violent and equally painful death. He wanted that poacher to suffer the way Lance and Shiro both suffered. Wiping his tears away, Lance began to listen. He can cry later. He can cry and break down later. He can sob into his pillows and ruin his facial mask with his emotions later. Right now, this was important. Compose yourself, the Blue Paladin reminded, focus and listen.

“When you died, both you and Shiro were struck by the Galra technology, and in effect, affected by Giratina. We don’t understand the mysterious force that has allowed you to fully reincarnate in the past, but Shiro gave a part of that to you. The Galra, on the other hand, have messed with your memories the same way that they messed with Shiro’s ability to communicate to us. It has been a long time since we have last spoken to our champion. Because of this, we suspect he may have spent a majority of his life trying to find you and trying to communicate to us once more.” Xerneas further added.

“Really? What do you mean? How were the Galra were on Earth hundreds of years ago? How come you can’t just reveal yourself to Shiro again?”

“We can’t easily reveal ourselves to human beings. Those who are gifted with powers of the Gods are capable of being revealed by us, yet the Galra had tempered with Shiro’s own ability to find us again. We suspect that Shiro may have intended to share some of his immortality with you, but dying by Galra technology has altered Shiro’s gift to you, that is how you came to reincarnate rather than survive death, or join it. When I create immortals, they simply don’t die. Nor do they forget what the foundation that their lives were built upon. It was this reincarnating trick the Galra forced upon you that made it rather tedious to find you, considering every life you have had, you held no recollection of us, nor who you were before. It also made it difficult for Celebi to track you down as your existence faded in and out repeatedly.” Xerneas continued. “It was simply by chance that Celebi was able to find you this time around, after repeatedly jumping in and out of history to find you. It was also by equal chance that she was able to find Shiro once more.”

“Xerneas, that doesn’t answer my one of my questions though. How did Galra technology get to Earth?”

“Your death was caused by the presence of the Galra on planet Earth years ago.” Dialga factually interrupted.

“Giratina had managed to kidnap a Pokémon known as Darkrai. Because Darkrai has a rather strong affinity for people, Giratina had used Darkrai to create the Galra. They are capable of shapeshifting, thus capable of looking much like humans, at least on Earth that is. In other planets and star systems, the Galra look much familiar to what you have seen, Lance. Those poachers, they were Galra in disguise.”

“Are you serious?!”

“The Galra came from Earth.” Dialga continued.

Xerneas and Arceus grunted as a confirmation to this. This was, by far, the biggest shocker that Lance has ever heard. Has Allura disclosed this to the team? How was this possible?!

“The Galra were created by Giratina as a means of trying to reemerge from the Distortion World. He had managed to scatter much of their species throughout the universe to insure he can gain control and superiority in regions that Arceus has no real domain. Because Arceus had banished him to the Distortion World, only the Sunne and Moone Emissaries are capable of releasing him. The same way that the Sunne and Moone Emissaries are capable of locating Arceus’ physical form, which has been hidden away.”

“So, then what’s my mission, exactly? Find the Sunne and Moone Emissaries?” Lance asked.

“Yes, and no,” Xerneas clarified “Lunala, the Pokémon that Celebi forced evolve, is the Moone Emissary.”

It was then that the Pokéball containing Lunala burst open excitedly, and the gigantic space-themed bat fluttered his wings at the mention of his name.

“You see, Lance, Arceus, Dialga and Xerneas gave enough power to Celebi when we were able to find you. But because we lack Arceus’ physical form, we cannot further evolve the other existing Cosmoem.”

“The other?”

“Yes. The other is in Shiro’s possession. Unless you can find Arceus’ physical form first, the only way you can make Shiro’s Cosmoem evolve is through the use of special flutes.”

Lance nodded.

“Your mission is this; find the parts of the flute. Have Shiro play one of the flute with you once they are completed, and find my physical form. In doing so, I will be reawakened and Giratina and the Galra Empire will be defeated.” Arceus calmly stated.

“You will need to tell Shiro. Gain his cooperation and work towards finding those flutes.”

It was that statement that made Lance hesitate. He has no problem finding those flutes; really if Lance thought about it, it would make him a badass hero! He would single handedly find the key components to save the universe and defeat the Galra. Hell, this would top anything Keith does! But there were some complications to it.

If Lance finds these flutes, he will need Shiro. But involving Shiro was the one thing Lance didn’t want to do. After witnessing that memory, Lance was convinced. He needed to protect Shiro. Shiro had lived too long through the darkest hours of this dimension and this universe. Lance…Lance couldn’t allow that to go on anymore. Shiro needed to be protected. Whatever, Lance’s feelings were regarding the nature of what he and Shiro used to be didn’t matter; Shiro had to be protected from this.

“I…I need to think on this.” Lance said earnestly. He needed to come up with a plan, a solid plan. Although the expressions on Xerneas and Arceus’ faces had not changed, Dialga looked vexed.

“What do you mean ‘You need to think about it,’ Lance?! The whole universe is at stake here!”

“I just need to process this, damn it!” Lance yelled back, before gasping and then covering his mouth shut. He yelled at the God of Time. Oh God, was Lance going to get it later. The towering dragon looked even more menacing, and if it weren’t for the presence of the others and Lance’s role towards saving the universe, the God of Time probably would have made Lance age himself to death by accelerating his life in the blink of an eye.

“It is okay, Dialga. Lance has a lot to process.” Arceus defended.

“My Lord –”

“Lance, we shall convene again a week from now. We hope to have a decision from you.” Arceus concluded. With a calm nod from Xerneas and annoyed growl from Dialga, it was agreed that a week from now, Lance will make a decision for them.

Lance nodded shyly for the last time before the room of golden lights dissipated.

Lance, Lunala and Celebi were now left alone in the training deck again.

“You know what, I think I might like sticking around with you.” Celebi nonchalantly said.

“Why is that?”

“Anyone who can get away pissing of Dialga seems like a fun person. Even if you are annoying.”

“Hey!” Lance defended.

Celebi simply winked at Lance before tapping her Pokéball, returning to rest. Lance could only shake his head, both at the green fairy and at the mess he found himself in.

-+-+-+-

In the late hours of the day, Lance found himself alone. He laid on his bed, eyes swollen.

He was done crying for today. He was done. His heart, however, still felt weighted at what he had seen.

It is not every day one watches how they die, nor do they get to watch how painful it was. Lance stood up. He stood up, walking towards the mirror that was latched onto the closet door in his room.

With cautious fingers, once searching for an answer that he was afraid to find out, he removed his shirt.

On his chest, left of his heart, was a scarred circular mark. His parents told him it was a birthmark, but what if they were wrong?

What if this was the burdened that he carried, his body collecting scars much like Shiro’s own with each passing cycle of living and dying? Lance placed a tentative finger against it, and in the back of his mind, he felt hot steel prick the dark skin.

The memories, they hurt him. Lance was afraid to uncover more truths that came from those lives because as Celebi and others had said…he wasn’t the greatest at surviving.

But this time, he has to make it through. He’s going to live and die an old man, back on Earth. And whether it is with Shiro (as a friend or something, Lance doesn’t fully know because that was a whole other can of worms he wants to open when he is ready to) or some hot dude/babe, he’s going to make it and ensure that the universe is free of that chaos.

-+-+-+-

“Is he okay?” Hunk asked with worry.

“Sometimes, the healing process can cause involuntary brainwave reactions. Although his body should be fine, whatever Shiro is thinking of might cause him to react during incubation,” Allura reassured.

Lance, Keith, and Hunk gathered around Shiro while Coran and Allura tinkered away at the healing pod’s control panel. In the back of Lance’s mind, he knew that enough time has passed. He has to make a decision regarding Arceus’ mission.

“He looks like he’s having a bad dream.”

“He just got blasted by a space witch and mauled by giant lizards; what dream could be worse than that?” Keith replied.

Lance didn’t want to say anything. He knew what could be if he spoke his mind. It made Lance wonder, what were Shiro’s memories were like? Surely if watching himself die was tremendously horrific, it must have been worse, watching the person you love die, Lance bleakly thought.

The moment his coal dark eyes fluttered open, everyone gathered around Shiro with immense relief.

At the change of a more awakened pulse, the pod immediately opened and Shiro fell out. Luckily, Lance and Hunk were able to catch him on the spot, balancing him on his feet.

“Shiro!” Both Pidge and Keith said in unison.

“You’re okay!” Hunk added.

“Shiro, how are you holding up?” Lance squeaked. His tone was one of both nervousness and solace. The same dark eyes that fluttered tiredly were now focused on Lance and it became very, very, _very_ apparent that Lance felt embarrassingly at Shiro. It dawned the Blue Paladin that after their whole ordeal being separated by a rampant wormhole that nearly accelerated Coran’s age backwards (seriously, what the fuck, Galra? Why do they got to be like that, thought Lance) in addition to all five of them being scattered around the cosmos, Lance was face to face with Shiro.

His hero.

His friend.

His comrade.

His _former lover_.

The last one and how it rolled off the tip of his thoughts made Lance reddened even more than necessary, and it was apparent enough that even Keith and Allura noticed Lance’s glowing face.

“I’ve been better, Lance. It’s a relief that everyone is back together safely.” Shiro warmly returned. Lance eagerly nodded in agreement.

After allowing Shiro to dress himself, he proceeded to explain his bizarre dream while in the healing pod. Lance listened with rapt attention as Shiro revealed from a traumatizing flashback that involved a Galra scientist by the name of Ulaz, who helped Shiro escape back to Earth in addition to giving him a bizarre string of coordinates that were intended to help Voltron.

-+-+-+-

“I’m not finding any coordinates in here. Are you sure this wasn’t just a dream?” Pidge asked. Shiro sat perfectly still and placid, face stern with focus while wires were connected to his metallic limb.

“I’m positive. Someone helped me escape.” Shiro adamantly asserted.

“And he was Galra?”

Allura’s question was met with an uneasy silence. It was understandable though. They were at war. They were at war with the Galra. Lance knew what the implications might be if they were to carelessly trust one of them, even if by chance, they had a change of heart to help Shiro escape. Whatever the case maybe, they, as the team of Voltron, must proceed with caution.

“Yes.” Shiro replied.

The tension thickened. Lance and Keith both looked at the exchange between Shiro and Allura, wandering how they both can be calm yet opposing to one another in this instance.

“You know you can’t trust them. Especially with what they did to your arm and Pidge’s family.”

“Your father must have trusted them once, Allura. After all, Zarkon was the original Black Paladin, wasn’t he?”

“That was a long time ago!” Allura immediately defended.

“Wait, what?” Lance blurted.

Allura was now the center of attention. As everyone’s eyes gazed at the Altean Princess, they waited for an answer.

How was that possible? How was it that Zarkon, Emperor of the Galra Empire and puppet to Giratina, was the original Black Paladin? How could the Alteans trust Zarkon? From what Allura has made known, both through words and through experience fighting side by side, Lance knew that the Galra were bad. They were bad enough that even Arceus requires his help to end them.

How could the Alteans, a species of peace-loving and justice-serving kickass warriors ally themselves to the Galra, even if it was a distant past?

“Didn’t you see how he stole the Black Lion out from Shiro? Or that he could do all that “cool” stuff with his bayard? Shiro’s bayard? That one belongs to the Black Paladin, doesn’t it?” added Keith. It was this comment that made Allura flinch, her eyes tightening to hold back something unsettling.

“Allura, why didn’t you tell us the truth?”

Lance could feel the tension reach its peak like a wave ready to crash. Whatever Allura had to say, everyone needed to know, whether it was going to be pretty or not.

“I was trying to protect you, all of you. The paladins before you, they didn’t always have a bright history. This…this was to allow you to better bond with your lions. On your own terms. Shiro, you are now the Black Paladin. Not Zarkon, not anyone else for that matter.”

“It’s nice that you say that, but the Black Lion seems to have a different take on the matter.” Shiro coldly remarked. In that instance, both Allura and Lance flinched at the callousness that Shiro stated.

“Hey now, I’m sure the Black Lion doesn’t think that way about you.” Lance chimed. It was an unnecessary comment. Of course all of them (minus Pidge who was still working on the wiretapping and coordinates from Shiro’s arm) would turn to look at Lance as to wonder why he needed to say that. But to Lance, it was for both Shiro’s comfort and for his own reassurance.

The Black Lion, much like their own Pokémon, chose them as their masters. They chose them as their companions. This has to be enough…right?

“Wait a second, I think I see it now. There are some repeating numbers within this Galra coding. I’ll begin extracting it now.” Pidge inserted. Upon the holoscreen, diagrams of another galactic system, followed by energy charts, a photo of the system pinged as to prove that Shiro did have implanted coordinates. “They are coordinates! It looks like they lead to somewhere called the Thaldycon system.”

“Shiro, are you sure you can trust this? I mean after everything they did to you; they took your arm.” Keith asked, his stuttered hinting concern that not even Lance has seen much of.

This would be a high stake mission, to visit more Galra territory after just being reunited again.

“We have to head there. It is a risk, but we have to take it. Whoever it was, they helped me escape. If we can locate allies in our fight against Zarkon, especially from his very own, then we owe to them and to those in need to bring Zarkon down.”

“I don’t like this. But we’ll check the location. The Galra are untrustworthy.” Allura said.

The meeting has come to a conclusion, and not a good one. Lance could only bring himself to agree with Shiro though.

As the Paladins of Voltron, they have sworn underneath Allura’s allegiance to help those in need. Even if the ones crying for help are the same species of aliens that have ended Allura’s home world.

What if these coordinates, and that scientist, are worth the risk? Lance doesn’t know. But he knows this; Shiro is an amazing leader. Shiro is brave, and courageous, and selfless, and knowledgeable, and just an amazing person. Lance knew this to an extent that the others don’t know. And because of this, Shiro’s decision to investigate these coordinates are well worth such a risk. Lance will follow them, whether or not it means going against Allura’s dislike of the Galra.

It then dawned to Lance that there wasn’t something fully right here. If the Galra were created by Giratina through Darkrai…how were there rebellious ones? How were there Galra soldiers who opposed Zarkon, and in essence, Giratina?

-+-+-+-

It was offsetting, seeing how dinner tonight (or was it day? Lance lost track of time of day now that the castle no longer consistently stayed on one planet and that to see time being tracked by some sun or moon was no longer viable) was only between Hunk, Pidge, Coran and himself.

Allura and Shiro were not in the greatest of moods. It seems that Keith went to tag along with Shiro because that’s just what Keith does. The dining table felt…empty.

“They aren’t really talking, are they?” Hunk blurted.

“Seems not. You know how Allura is, opposing anything to do with the Galra.” Coran said.

“Coran? Do you know why Zarkon was the original Black Paladin?” Lance asked.

“I don’t fully know all the details but back in the day, almost ten millinafeebs ago, the Galra were once an allied nation to Altea. Zarkon and King Alfor were once good friends. I’ll never understand why the Galra did what they did and betray Altea, but know that whatever Princess Allura decides, whether to trust or eliminate these “potential allies,” I’ll consider it done one way or another.”

All three looked at Coran and this threat that laid bare upon the table and Hunk’s cooking. Feeling that he has had enough for the day, Lance decided to excuse himself.

“Hey Lance, before you go up, can you give these to Keith and Shiro? They didn’t come down for dinner.” Hunk requested, holding some warm plates.

“Oh, yeah, sure thing buddy.”

Parting ways, Lance carried the food as asked. As he passed by the training deck, he saw Keith slicing away at the Gladiator, who was in turn attempting to return equally lethal blows. Not wanting to interrupt him, he placed his food next to the jacket that Keith left near the entrance.

After some time, Lance came learn that Shiro was not in his room, nor the training deck (obviously since Keith was alone), nor the main control room. Giving up, Lance decided to leave the food near Shiro’s room.

He needs to go contact Arceus and the other Pokémon gods. He has to do this. The only place he can go, without feeling concern that others might overhear him was the observatory. Finding the right flight of stairs, Lance began his secret trek upwards to the glass ceiling that held the night sky.

-+-+-+-

What he wasn’t expecting was Shiro to be there. As Lance came into the room, he saw Shiro gazing up from the soft couches, eyes swimming away into the glittering dots that has become familiar waters to all of them.

“Shiro?”

“Lance? What are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same thing.” Lance countered playfully. Shiro smirked at him.

As Lance sat next to the Black Paladin, he thought that maybe the decision can wait until Shiro leaves the room.

“How are you feeling, Shiro?”

“I’ve had better days, what about you Lance?”

There was so much Lance wanted to tell Shiro, namely thank you. Lance wanted to thank Shiro for trying all those years ago, trying to save him from his death. But not yet.

“I’m okay.”

The silence that followed was not bad. As Lance reclined more into the couch, the breathing between the two slowly calmed down (more so because Lance was a bit tired early trekking all those stairs up here). It took a lot of self-control for Lance to not blatantly stare at Shiro. Not because he wasn’t hot (Lance knew that Shiro was hot) but rather…it was because of how tired Shiro looked.

The older man’s shoulders looked slacked. As he leaned back on the couch to make looking up more comfortable, Lance could see his breathing steady even more sluggishly than his own. Shiro’s soft gaze at a faint trace of lines beneath his eye lids.

“I was trying to find you earlier, you know.”

“Oh really? Why’s that, Lance?”

“Hunk made you dinner.”

“Oh.” There was something eager in his voice. Lance didn’t want to look too deep into that “oh,” but he couldn’t thinking what did Shiro mean by that?

“Is everything okay between you and Allura?”

“I don’t think that’s something you need to concern yourself with, Lance.”

Lance didn’t mean to offend Shiro by prying, if he did. But he was concerned. Allura and Shiro both ran Voltron. He just wanted the reassurance that everything was fine.

“No, it isn’t. But Allura is my friend, and so are you, Shiro. I just want to help, if I can.”

It was then Shiro sat up more, gazing at Lance.

“I really appreciate that Lance. I’m sure Allura would appreciate it too. I know that what happened earlier in the medical bay wasn’t exactly pleasant. But everything will be fine.”

That was something that Lance wanted to believe. Nevertheless he knew better. Things wouldn’t be fine until he can find himself walking up to his front door back home in Slateport City and hugging his mother and every last one of his siblings. Things won’t be fine until he completes the task of finding those intergalactic flutes that Arceus is demanding of him.

“Don’t worry about it Shiro.”

“Hey Lance?”

“Yeah Shiro?”

When Lance gave Shiro his utmost attention, Shiro smiled back. It was a soft smile. It was one that Shiro didn’t show often, one that was genuine instead of his subtle smirk or a cocky grin that he shares with Keith. It was one that made Lance’s heart beat one note quicker.

“You’re a great person.” Shiro finished.

“Thank you, Shiro.”

Lance’s face felt irrationally hot. He couldn’t bring himself to continue looking at his leader, but that didn’t stop the lingering feeling that Shiro was still looking at him. As Lance looked up again, he tried to swallow his nerves and his fluttering butterflies and just enjoy the stars.

-+-+-+-

“Celebi, can you summon Arceus? I have made a decision.”

“Oh really? You sure you want to do this Lance?”

“Kinda have to.”

“Okay then Lance, give me a moment.” The green fairy stated, raising her small palms before turning the room into the golden space that Lance has become familiar to. As the space glimmered and pulsed, Lance waited for the gods and goddesses to apparate into existence.  

“Hello Lance.” Arceus and Xerneas greeted. Lance took a bow to all of them.

“You have made a decision, yes?” Dialga questioned swiftly.

“I…I have. I’ll do the missions you have set up for me. But they have to be done on my terms?”

“What?! You cannot be serious.” Dialga objected with equal speed.

“Hold on, Dialga. What are your conditions, my child?” Arceus asked.

It was now or never. Lance has to do this. For the sake of Voltron, for his friends, for his family, for Earth, for Shiro.

“My two conditions is that one, I don’t want to involve Shiro. Not until I have all the flute pieces together.”

“And why is that, Lance?” Dialga seethed.

“Shiro has suffered enough. He spent his life trying to find me. Let me help him. Let me do this for him.”

“It is Shiro’s responsibility to defeat the Galra!”

“I know, Dialga – er Sir – but! I don’t want him to get hurt. I don’t want him to hurt anymore because of this, and because of me. He spent too much time trying to find me, and not doing all of your wills, didn’t he? Let me do this for him. I’ll complete the mission so that he wouldn’t be so burdened by this anymore. If I can complete finding the flutes, I’ll then have him talk to you guys and we can defeat Giratina and the Galra. But please, let me do this for him. I’ll find your flutes.”

“Is this what you really want, Lance?” Celebi gently questioned. It was the third Lance saw the time traveler show some concern for him.

“I am. It’s either this way, or you can find your flutes yourself while we as Voltron will defeat Zarkon on our own.” Lance fought with pseudo-confidence.

Xerneas and Dialga towered over him, one wearing an overwrought and fretful expression while the other looked with rage and malice at the disrespect that Lance had served them.

“Okay. We’ll do it your way. But if you suffer any grievous damage, it is up to you to have Shiro intervene, my child.” Arceus said.

“Okay, sounds good!”

“The mission requires you to find two flutes. The flutes are each split into three pieces, with six in total. Your first piece will be part of the Solar Flute will be located on Iberorix; this was the frozen sea planet that Celebi had found you on. You may not need the Blue Lion as Lunala is capable of locating the flute pieces and their locations. However for this particular place, you may need something to help you breath underwater.”

“Understood.”

“What is your second condition, Lance?” Arceus asked once more.

“My second condition is that you answer me this; why are there Galra rebelling against Zarkon? All of you had confirmed that Giratina made Zarkon and the Galra Empire, right? So shouldn’t all of them be on the same wavelength or something? How can rebelling Galra soldiers exist?”

Arceus blinked at Lance, for as a God, He wasn’t expecting that kind of a condition.

“It maybe suspected that Darkrai has not succumbed to Giratina’s completely control, Lance.”

“What do you mean?”

“Darkrai is a Pokémon that protects people and their dreams, both good and bad ones. As such, he has developed compassion for humans. Perhaps it is this sentiment that manifested in some of the Galra he was forced to create. We cannot rescue Darkrai without the Sunne and Moone Emissaries. We are selves do not know the full nature because we cannot rescue Darkrai from the Distortion World that easily.”

“O-Okay then.” Lance replied. It wasn’t a great answer, but an answer is an answer.

“Lance?” Xerneas placidly addressed.

“Yes Xerneas?”

“Please take care. We would like to see more of you soon,” she requested with a hint of jest. She asked him to be careful the same way his own mother had done before. Lance nodded and with a sigh of all four beings, room dissipated once more.

-+-+-+-

The next day, Allura and Coran had set the ship to hyper jump to the coordinates of the Thaldycon system. After the ship the left the wormhole, what the team were met by were gigantic space crystals. They were glossy, each showing beautiful hues of aqua and jade. It soon became apparent that Coran and Allura were carefully steering the Castle of Lions away from these crystals.

“Well this is it. No signs of any activity at all, living or otherwise.” Coran alerted.

“Is there a way for us to get a closer look?” Shiro requested.

“Bringing the Castle any closer wouldn’t be a wise decision. These are xanthorium chunks, loaded with highly unstable and highly explosive nitrate salts. It just takes one bump to blow us straight to Wozblay.” Coran warned.

“Are you sure this is right?”

“These are the coordinates Number Five imputed.”

“Hey! My decryption is solid.” Pidge asserted, stretching her neck a little over her control panel as to check if Shiro or anyone else doubted her.

“There must be something we are missing.”  

“We did what we needed to do. We checked it out, but now it’s time to move on. Let’s get out of here.” Allura added.

“NO. There must be something more to this. I can feel it. I think we should wait.” Shiro ordered.

It didn’t take long for the alarms to sound. As the alarms blared, red warning signs appeared on every screen.

“There’s an intruder in the Castle!” shrieked Coran.

“How could someone just sneak aboard the ship?”

“Coming here was a mistake!” Allura said with annoyance as she pulled up all the surveillance cameras. The cameras panned, each showing varying angles of the ship. From the upper tier to the lower quadrants, almost every room appeared and appeared empty. It was then a masked stranger appeared in one of the corridors. “There he is. Level Five.”

“Suit up everyone.” Shiro ordered.

-+-+-+-

The sound of panting wasn’t far from Lance. He made quick haste as everyone split up, each covering varying parts of Level Five. As the ship hummed, a sound was out synch. It was a lively but exhausting one. Whoever this intruder maybe, Lance was going to capture him.

The being in question finally came into view. It was a tall and gangly feature, one wearing armor eerily similar to the Galra armor that Lance has seen previously. As the man turned around, Lance saw a blade on the stranger’s back, one that looked horrifically familiar to the poacher’s own blade from Ilex Forest.

The stranger then acknowledged Lance. Hooded, his mask had three glowing circles, a hue of purple that the Galra seem fond of. The mask also had purple slits on its cheek.

“I got him.” Lance radioed.

“Keep eyes on him, Lance. We’re all headed toward you.”

“Hold it right there!” Lance screamed, preparing for arrest. He steadied his bayard.

It was then that the masked stranger charged at Lance. With zero hesitation, Lance fired at every step the masked stranger tried to stride towards.

“Careful! He’s faster than angry klanmüirl!” Coran reported. Dodge, flip, bounce of the walls, the stranger evaded all of Lance’s fires. Before Lance realized it, the stranger managed to flip over him, evading him instead of opting to use Lance’s own weakness: close combat.

“But he can jump like a sprightly globinheffer!” Coran continued, as if he were some overly excited sportscaster.

“Coran, you’re not helping!”

“Oh, somebody’s as mad as a wet chüper.” Coran said mockingly.

The stranger wasn’t going to go down easily. His next resort was to bring out his Pokémon.

“Go, Luxray!”

As the blue electrical lion appeared, the stranger began his sprint. Nodding, both the Blue Paladin and his Pokémon followed, with Lance firing more shots. They couldn’t risk hurting the stranger completely, so Lance opted for a more tactful approach.

“Luxray, I need you to use Thunder Wave on him. We can’t hurt him but we need to catch him!” Lance panted.

Agreeing, they continued their pursuit.

“Coming your way, Number Five!”

Hearing that announcement, Lance realized that Pidge was extremely close by. Rounding the corner, the stranger bolted forward and almost out of Lance’s field of vision.

“I got him!” Pidge cried. This spurred Lance to move even quicker. “I don’t got him!”

“Hold on Pidge! I’m coming!”

Finally seeing Pidge, only to watch her get dragged by the stranger from her own bayard, Lance ordered another Thunder Wave. It managed to hit, but not before realizing that it was ineffective. As Pidge’s own bayard both emitted and absorbed electrical energy, the device acted as a lightning rod. The masked stranger was still bolting away.

“He’s dragging Pidge away!”

“Hey, come back here! Luxray, again, Thunder Wave!”

“Lux!” Shouted the black and blue being, another pulse of electricity charging the air as they pursued Pidge and her captive friend. As Lance followed, a rapid fire of bulleted energy bombarded Pidge from the ground.

“Hunk!” Pidge grunted.

“Huh? Sorry!”

“Oh, it seems Hunk failed the team, guys.”

“Hey!” the Yellow Paladin fumed at the intercom. It was now both Lance and Hunk pursuing Pidge.

“It’s up to Keith now.” Coran reported once more. “Oh how exciting, he’s got a sword!”

“Copy that. I’m ready.” The Red Paladin radioed in. Lance and Hunk nodded, knowing that somewhere around the next corner, Keith was ready to pounce this asshole.

As the mask man ran, Lance came to the conclusion that using Luxray was going to be ineffective. He recalled his Pokémon, preparing to ambush the man.

“One young paladin versus one seemingly indestructible foe!”

“Coran, can you not?!” Lance interjected again.

By now, the masked man had managed to both out run Lance and Hunk. They lost sight of Pidge but her screams and grunts were not far from them at all.

“Hunk, let’s take this corridor. I think we can cut them off near the corner!”

“Roger!” was Hunk’s response.

“Oh swing and a miss! Another swing and a miss, he can’t touch him, he’s too fast! He knocked his bayard out of his hands! It’s on the ground!”

There was no time left to waste. Lance picked up his pace, with Hunk in tote. Nearby, they can now hear Keith’s own unleveled breathing being mixed into swift throws of fists. A slam was heard in the distance, the sounds of Keith’s and Pidge’s voice melding.

Out of nowhere, Lance and Hunk rounded the corner, only to be met with Keith’s flying body slamming hard into their midsections. Collecting their selves, all four paladins saw the pursuit come to standoff of an end, with Shiro’s glowing limb aimed at the masked stranger while his Greninja was hunched on the wall, blades made of water ready to kamikaze if ordered.

Both combatants looked at one another.

Shiro’s gaze wouldn’t falter, nor had the masked man’s own.

It was then that the masked man lowered his blade. He stood up right, left hand reaching up for his hood. The mask morphed into a hologram before fading, pointed lilac ears flopping to the side as a Galra man with yellow eyes looked at Shiro. He had distinct white tattoos decorating the sides of his silver Mohawk.

“Ulaz?” Shiro spoke, both with confusion and relief. He lowered his own arm, and Greninja allowed his watery weapons to dissolve.

With a deft and unprecedented speed, Allura slammed the man into the corridor walls. Lance and the others had failed to see where she had come from.

“Who are you?!” Allura wrathfully demanded. Her palm pressed harder into Ulaz’s armor, his breath stuttering again from the forced palm.

“Allura! Stop this, now! This is the Galra who freed me!” Shiro defended, though this did not stop Allura from releasing her hold.

“You’ve come.” Was all Ulaz had stated.

-+-+-+-

The Blade of Marmora. Lance watched the interrogation of Ulaz go back and forth, their words, their exchanges a mixture of trying to understand one another and the preparing to end this Galra’s life. Lance was a loss for words again. He hates when that happens, but nonetheless he is here speechless, listening to this man spot knowledge of Galra forces who are secretly fighting against Zarkon.

Lance wore the bravest face he could make. They were the fucking Paladins of Voltron. No matter how intimidating this man may appear, they cannot allow themselves to look weak! After ordering Hunk to stop being so scared, Lance continued to listen.

The turnabout was that Ulaz was part of this rebellion, his group being responsible for freeing Shiro from Zarkon’s control as well as being the one sort of responsible for getting Team Voltron together (Lance can admit, if it weren’t for this man freeing Shiro, the team would have never gotten together, nor would Lance have ever came across Celebi and Lunala, or even space travel like this for that matter). The base that Ulaz has absconded to was hidden within the xanthorium crystal field, courtesy of a hidden pocket of space-time.

Despite Allura’s doubts, Ulaz had fully revealed the base as expected. The base in question, was hidden within an interdimensional space-time pocket lodged on _the_ largest xanthorium cluster (should be that Ulaz and the other Blade of Marmora members be discovered, they would commit mutually destructive deaths with this horrendous field of bombs). Again, despite Allura’s doubts, Shiro persisted.

It wasn’t pleasant watching the two leaders of Voltron disagree with this notion, but Shiro was Lance’s hero and friend. Yet, there was a sinking feeling in Lance.

“You know I trust you, Shiro, but this doesn’t feel right.” Keith cautiously said.

“As much as I hate to agree with Keith, it’s a big fat ditto for me.” Lance included.

“What if the Galra could have implanted fake memories of the escape in your head, Shiro?” Pidge asked.

“Oh, come on! That would be so evil…which of course, they are. But they’d have to come up with some molecular level storage unit…which his hand does have. But! To be linked up to memory, it would need a direct pathway to his brain which…yeah.” Hunk tried to rationalize. This only served to point out the same lingering uncertainty that comes with trudging into the xanthorium clusters.

“Ulaz freed me. Without him, we wouldn’t be here.” Shiro argued back against everyone.

A pang of guilt poured into Lance. He shouldn’t have let his doubts cloud his trust in Shiro. The same guilt also clawed itself faintly into Keith’s own expression of concern.

“Fine. Coran, head for the xanthorium clusters.” Allura allowed with a defeated tone. However, instead of focusing her stony glare at Ulaz, it now fixed itself onto Shiro.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pokédex - http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Main_Page
> 
> Legendary Pokémon  
> • Xerneas, the Life Pokémon  
> • Celebi, the Time Travel Pokémon  
> • Dialga, the Temporal Pokémon  
> • Arceus, the Alpha Pokémon  
> • Lunala, the Moone Pokémon  
> • Solgaleo, the Sunne Pokémon  
> • Darkrai, the Pitch-Black Pokémon
> 
> Lance’s Pokémon  
> • Vaporeon, the Bubble Jet Pokémon  
> • Kingdra, the Dragon Pokémon  
> • Milotic, the Tender Pokémon  
> • Luxray, the Gleam Eyes Pokémon
> 
> Shiro’s Pokemon  
> • Greninja, the Ninja Pokémon  
> • Gardevoir, the Embrace Pokémon
> 
> Keith’s Pokémon  
> • Flareon, the Flame Pokémon  
> • Gallade, the Blade Pokémon


	5. Episode 05

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry this story took a while to update. I have been having an extremely rough month. I have had my car damaged beyond repair and trying to handle both school and work was stressful. But I want to say those who do read this story, thank you. For pushing me to continue writing and working hard at the things life demands from writing this to other challenges. Hope you enjoy this!

_(Present Day…)_

The control deck was unusually calm. Perhaps it needed to be this way for Coran to stabilize the Castle while the others boarded Ulaz’s communication base for the Blade of Marmora. But the calm wasn’t a serene one. It was tense, the anxious type of feeling, like a passive, forced calm after an argument.

This sort of feeling was something never sat right with Lance.

It was apparent, from the way both Allura glared with deep conviction at the communication base within the distant xanthorium field and from how Coran looked more sullen. If she had laser beam eyes, Lance was confident she would have shot down that base. Except that would backfire tremendously because of the xanthorium clusters and because very much valued team members are aboard said ship.  

There had only been two times had Shiro and Allura ever had such a disagreement that caused a rift between the two. Lance knew this because the much like Keith, Shiro worked fluidly with Allura, more so than the rest of them as paladins. During their infiltration mission, Allura’s ability to both stride into Zarkon’s ranks easily and her tactful methods to prevent Shiro from getting abducted again was a sign of their cohesive teamwork. So when the two couldn’t see eye to eye, when the two couldn’t find a common ground, it was concerning. They were both stubborn. They would say their words and listen to others and then act like they took it into consideration when in reality, their words became symbols of attrition and would wait for them, for one or the other to cave in.  

Perhaps it had to do with Shiro’s well-rounded nature to give everyone the benefit of the doubt albeit naively and without fully having a sense of caution, or perhaps it was Allura’s protectiveness that occasionally borderline the concept of racism against the Galra that set forth the notion that neither of the two really want to be around one another. The two leaders haven’t talked in two days (also equally problematic because the two are always eager to resolve differences as swiftly as possible).

As Allura held her hands against the two control mechanisms that guided the ship, Lance took this as an opportunity to talk to her. Her gaze was still focused on the communication base, eyes steely as if to wait for the damn thing to explode. Lance reminded himself to help Allura get rid of such a look later into the future. Frowning and glaring would make her look closer to those druids.  

“Princess? Is everything alright?”

“Everything is fine, Lance.”

“You’re not being short with me cuz of Shiro, are you?”

“Lance.” The Altean Royalty growled.

“Okay. I’m just asking.”

It sucked. Lance disliked being met with angry silence. Whether or not it was being directed at him or because he was the cause of it, Lance hated it.

“I just want to help the two of you.”

Allura turned her attention away from the holoscreen, looking at Lance as if to wonder why.

“Lance, I appreciate that you care about the team, and that includes looking out for both my wellbeing and Shiro’s, but you don’t need to worry about it. As the five of you were during the beginning of this journey, not every leader can be in sync with one another all the time.”

“I know, and I get that. It’s just…”

“It’s just what, Lance?”

Perhaps saying what he felt wouldn’t be a good idea. Usually doing so made him feel immature because he was used to being dismissed easily.  

“You know what? Forget that last part. Just know you can talk, if you need to, Princess.”

“Thank you, Lance.”

“No worries.”

As all three watched the screen, it felt as if the others were on board for quite some time. The xanthorium field, had it not been such a dangerous plain of floating mines, would have been beautiful. It would have been somewhere Lance would actually have liked to explore if time would have allowed it. As Lance took out Vaporeon to play with, a nervous thought wouldn’t leave him.

He had a solo mission coming up soon. He would have to secretly leave the Castle – something he has no idea how he is going to execute – and run off to some planet (namely the first one being the icy mess that he and Hunk were stranded on) in order to recover some ancient artifacts. Now Lance, knowing himself, and knowing how others perceive him, knows that he isn’t good with secretive things. Stealth isn’t his greatest strength beyond being a great marksman (mainly he can only be stealthy if he were hiding in one spot shooting at everything and that’s about it for his thing). Yet, there was a price to pay. He has to protect them. He has to protect Allura, Coran, Hunk and Pidge. He has to protect Keith even. But most of all, he has to, at all costs, protect Shiro and do this for him.

He needed to do this. He has to be brave. Lance has to trust himself, his lion, his Pokémon and just do this.

-+-+-+-+-

Ulaz had died.

He died a hero.

He died trying to help Shiro.

He died.

He died, but if there was one thing that Lance, Keith, and Shiro would make sure of, was that he didn’t die in vain.

Shiro was absent from dinner again. Lance wasn’t really that hungry anyways. A small pang of guilt overridden his appetite. After thanking Hunk and Coran for the food that he merely picked at, Lance dragged himself to his room. The halls these days seemed to get longer and longer. Lance knew that he hasn’t been in the Castle that long. If anything, at best they have been there what felt like six or seven months? Maybe Lance should check with Coran. Although Altean time is a wee bit off in comparison to Earth time, they might be able to figure something out. After today’s battle, they were given the next three days off, unless another emergency were to make itself known. Maybe this was to allow Shiro mourn, or to let Allura cool off.

No one was in a good mood. Keith and Allura were absent yet again, and to Lance…he just…it didn’t feel right.

-+-+-+-+-

The observatory tower was cool, as expected, in terms of temperature. Lance held his arms closer to keep warm. Even if Lance hasn’t done anything bad or troublesome to the others, coming here was his getaway when things got too much. Like the fighting. To Lance, sure, he was annoying, and yeah, he has been in some fights before, but he has never really been in a position where he had to really kill someone.

Until coming onto Voltron.

Killing…it wasn’t a pretty word. It could never be a pretty word. Lance made numerous efforts to see the good in what he does. He is the Blue Paladin of Voltron, Master of Water and Ice, Legendary Protector of the Universe! Those titles, they are good. They are a morally good thing. But they come with burdens that not many of them would ever consider having or wanting to carry.

Lance was only 14 (in this life at least) when he had to actually start using his Pokémon against other humans, and not just battling for fun. He was then 19 when he had to learn how to use both a real handgun and a laser gun for protecting himself in space. At 20, he had to pilot a magical scientifically unusual robot lion to wage war against a semi-malevolent alien species.

He keeps telling himself he does what he does because it is for the greater good. This is for his family. This is for Earth. This is for humanity and Alteans and Pokémon. This is for the universe, and all life that deserves a fair chance to live and die in prosperity and peace. This was for valor, for courage, for honesty, for truth, for friendship, for love…

These were the indoctrinated beliefs that make being a Paladin worth something. But the dark sinking feeling of someone’s blood on his own hands…it didn’t make being a Paladin for easy for Lance.

He knew that somethings were not easy to do, nor were they easy to decipher the value of their worth. He knew that going to war for the universe’s only hope, well there wasn’t just any dichotomy that made deciding things easy. There was no such thing as black and white, and there was no such thing as one decision having absolute good and bad.

With every action and mission Lance completes, he wonders. He wonders how his family, his current family that is, are doing. He wonders if they would be proud of him. He knows that he abandoned their hopes when he decided to go to Mossdeep City. He knows that they worry for him. But…is what he is doing now, would they be proud of that?

Lance thought deeply about them. He thinks about how his parents were stressed out when they found out he wanted to go to Mossdeep. He remembers how his siblings all gave him their opinions about it, even when unasked for. He remembers, and he quietly dealt with it as he left. But now he wonders, he deeply wonders.

His thinking had to take a back seat when Lance made it to the observatory tower. When Lance made it up there, he saw Shiro gazing up to the stars again, this time with a perplexed gaze.

“Hey Shiro.”

“Oh, hi Lance.”

As Lance sat across from Shiro, the other took his eyes away from the stars to acknowledge him.

“Shiro?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m sorry, you know, about what happened to Ulaz.”

“It’s okay Lance. He will be missed.” The way Shiro said that, it was tone that ached with longing. Longing for answers. Longing to find out about his own time with the Galra. Ulaz was one of the few that really did see Shiro through his imprisonment and it was disheartening for someone like Shiro to look a little hopeless. Lance took another breath before continuing.

“I know we doubted him. I doubted him. He died – I mean he gave up his own life for us. I know you wanted to help him. I’m pretty sure he had uh, a lot of things that he could have said and done to help Voltron, and I know that you wanted to ask him so much. I know what I am saying isn’t going help much but –” the Blue Paladin rambled.

“Lance-”

“-I just want you to know that he didn’t die in vain. He died a hero; Allura can’t change that, even if she is one of us, and even though he was a stranger, I am happy we got to meet him and you got to meet him and I know saying it like that sounds a bit rough but, I just wish…there was something we could do for him. The same way that I wish there was something I could do to help you.” Lance finished.

“Lance, it is fine. Really.”

“Are you sure?”

“No.”

“Oh.”

“I’m not sure, to be honest. But I will be. We are at war right now, so losing allies is to be expected eventually. That’s why we have to keep fighting though.”

“You really think so, Shiro?”

“I know so. We fight so that their lives will mean something beyond their loss. So, we’ll be sad when time allows us to, but eventually, we have to stop. We have to fight for them. Day and night. That way, we can stop losses like this. We have to fight, so that in the end, we can save Matt and Sam Holt, and get everyone back to Earth.”

Then after that, it was silent. It was a comfortable silence.

“Shiro?”

“Yeah?”

“I…I never really got around to telling you this, but ummm it’s important you know that…you’re my hero, you know.”

“Lance…”

“I’m just saying! Hear me out. Okay? I just want you to know, in case…”

“In case what?”

“In case if anything happens to you, or to me.”

Perhaps that wasn’t the best thing to say. Maybe it was kind of depressing in a way. Here they were, just gazing at the stars and Lance had to bring up this small gloomy thought out of him. But it was honest. It was purely, genuinely, honest. Lance didn’t know what the future may hold. He didn’t know what may happen to his friends, or Shiro or Allura and Coran. He didn’t know if he could truly carry out Arceus’ missions. He didn’t know. What if something did happen? He just wants Shiro to know. He just wants Shiro to know that after everything that they have done for the universe, that even if he doubts the good in himself, Shiro would know what a good person Lance thought he was. It was something that Lance just had to say. Even if right now, he truly doesn’t know how to feel about Shiro, he does know this: Shiro really was, is, and always will be his hero. He was his hero all those years ago when he gave Lance a short lived adventure beyond Azalea Town and he still is the same hero who inspired Lance to fly among the stars and nebulas. Shiro is his hero. He didn’t need to be in love with Shiro to tell him that.

Much to Lance’s surprise and minor chagrin, Lance watched the Black Paladin get up to sit next to him. Within a second, Shiro was suddenly hugging Lance. Shiro held onto Lance, strong biceps encircling him so protectively. Shiro gave a small shudder, a hesitant shake, at the contact he gave Lance. But Lance wasn’t judging. He let his own arms wrap around Shiro, holding him in equal. This made Shiro sigh in shy content.

The warmth, the contact…it felt familiar. Pleasantly familiar. The smell of metal and a hint of cologne lingered in Shiro’s jacket, but to Lance, it was a pleasant scent, suiting even. When Shiro let go, Lance could feel every inch of skin on his body just bursting with heat. What was the phrase, was it touch starved? Maybe the lack of hugs from Hunk and the absence of his family has made Lance very touched starved. The hugging felt safe and homey.

“Lance, there’s a lot of things I can’t promise you but I will promise you this: we will finish this war, and I will make sure nothing ever happens to you, or me, or to anyone. I will get all of us back to Earth and will continue to be your hero.”

Of all the things that Shiro could have said to make Lance’s heart stop, it was that. Lance couldn’t quite grasp what made him feel so shy and appreciated all at once. That wasn’t Lance at all; half the time he was used to either being ignored or being such an extrovert that the word “shy” wouldn’t even dare cross his pretty handsome lips but yet here he was, sitting next to Shiro and his heart wouldn’t stop rolling on a beat. Maybe it was the past feelings, the fact that Shiro does care about Lance, yet can’t admit. Maybe it was the fact that Shiro was just way too corny at flirting. Either way, it was a change of pace. It was different. Maybe it was the fact that Shiro was the first person in a while asides from Nyma (she doesn’t count though, considering she had Lance hogtied to a tree on some meteor) to actually reciprocate the flirting and return it so nicely. It was nice. It made Lance feel nice, even underneath the heavy blushing he was feeling.

“Oh stop it! I didn’t know you could be cheesy, Shiro.”

“Can’t help it, Mr. Flirt.” Shiro teased playfully back.

Feeling more comfortable, Lance took the moment to rest his head on Shiro’s shoulder now that they were sitting side by side. He can cast his doubts and worry about his actions later. Right now, things felt good. Shiro felt good, and that made Lance feel good.

He didn’t need to be his boyfriend to at least do that.

-+-+-+-+-

Lance made it a point to stash his armor in the Blue Lion when no one was looking the following day. After a training session, Lance left his armor in there, along with some rationed food and needed medical supplies (vaccines, anti-venoms, antidotes, high grade painkillers, tourniquets, etc.,) should he get injured – which he might – on the mission. Lance’s medical skills are okay at best; although Milotic and Vaporeon are great healers, they don’t compare to Allura’s Pokémon or Shiro’s Gardevoir. Even Keith’s own Gallade was a great healer.  

He had approximately 10 hours to prepare before beginning the first mission for Arceus.

“Celebi, come out.”

“What is it now, Lance? I was in the middle of a nap.” Complained the time traveler. Lance frowned at her. This wasn’t the time for this. For once, Lance was actually adamant about completing with, and he isn’t really wanting to slack on this anymore.

“Not now. Look, can you bring me to Arceus again? I am ready to be briefed.”

“Oh?”

“Is that a problem, Celebi?”

“Are you really ready to go through with this?” Celebi asked nervously.

“Well a great hero has to get a head start, right?”

Celebi shook her head. Lance knew why. This wasn’t going to be easy. Whatever task is up ahead, whatever this mission may become, Lance has to face it. It’s for the sake of the universe!

“Okay, if you insist.”

-+-+-+-+-

Within seconds, Lance found himself back in the interdimensional gold room. The cozy feeling of it returned, and the two waited as Arceus, Xerneas and Dialga to materialize. That in itself was slowly becoming a normality to Lance. As the particles in the air transcended into blue and grey hues for Dialga and Xerneas, Arceus Himself arose from the golden floor. As usual, Xerneas seemed fairly serene while Dialga scowled. Arceus, being the God Among All Gods, looked lax.  

“Hello, Lance.”

“Hello, Arceus, Dialga, Xerneas. I am ready, for the umm, mission.” Lance greeted as he was in mid-bow.

“Very well, my child. I shall make this brief. As I have stated before, the first piece of the Solar Flute will be located on Iberorix. It is hidden within an underwater labyrinth, at the heart of a cave system called the Elohim. You may need the assistance of Water-types as well as your bayard.”

“No worries, both of those are prepared.”

“Excellent. Keep in mind, you might also require the cooperation of the Iberorixians.”

“You mean the mermaids?”

“Is that what they are called on Earth? Then yes. The ‘mermaids,’ maybe capable of helping you as well.” Arceus continued. Lance nodded. “Just know Lance that these missions will not be easy. Each one will become exponentially difficult than the last. For some…you may need to make decisions that are not always the most proud worthy. Our final warning to you is regarding your unique ability. Unlike Shiro, who has the power of immortality and durability beyond human capability, you still are relatively mortal. Although you will now recall all your past lives once you die again, you are still capable of dying in this life. You must take care of your own wellbeing. Are you ready?”

Lance didn’t fully know if he was or wasn’t ready. But what better way to know than to find out now?

“I am. If it’s for the universe, I’ll do it.”

“You may proceed.”

-+-+-+-+-

The timing system within the Castle itself is attuned similarly to Earth’s own time. As a result, the Castle is capable of adjusting its own lighting and heating system as if to mimic the times of the day in which sunlight would grace Earth and when night would fall. Right now, it was considered Earth’s night time.

Lance’s armor sensor showed that it was late night within the Castle. It was the perfect time to attempt his first solo mission.

Stealth work wasn’t always his greatest skill. He knew that he couldn’t keep his breath held for long. He knew that he couldn’t always keep still very well. He knew that he had a hard time suppressing his presence. But at the very least, the corridors were empty.

His steps were silent. He moved, making sure that he stayed far away from as many doors as possible. Managing to sneak past the sleeping quarters, Lance had made note that Hunk and Pidge had already been asleep in their rooms. Allura as well. Only Keith, Shiro and Coran seemed to be somewhere else…

As the halls stretched on in the dim lighting, Lance felt he was somewhat closer to the hangars. His first part of the mission required getting to Blue and piloting himself to Iberorix. That’s where the tricky part would come in, but Lance will figure it out. As soon as he gets there.

Ten minutes. It took him approximately ten minutes to descend to the lower levels of the ship. The kitchen had been shut down. The training deck appeared to be vacant. The control deck also empty. Everywhere that the others would be seemed to be empty and it was good enough for Lance to walk more freely.

Finally reaching the hangar, Lance greeted Blue. He patted the cold steel, knowing that Blue genuinely appreciated the petting gesture.

“Get ready, Blue. We got a big mission ahead of us.”

“Mission?”

“Yeek!” Yelped Lance. Right behind him stood Coran, a yawn escaping from his red mustache, body clothed in pajamas. He was holding a small mug of what appeared to be Altean tea. “Coran – I – ummm-” before Lance could even finish that statement, Lunala popped out of his Pokéball unprompted. Before Lance or Coran could either react properly, the gigantic space bat’s own eyes glowed baleful blue light that pulsed in a slow rhythm. The moment it struck the Altean butler, the man dropped his mug, shattering onto the ground callously. Lance watched Coran’s jaw become slack and his eyes dull down lifelessly.

“Lunala, were you using Hypnosis?”

“Lulu!” the Moone Pokémon gestured affirmatively. Celebi’s own Pokéball pinged open, the other joining the giant bat.

“Lance! You have to be more careful. Remember, you said you didn’t want to involve the others.”

“I know, I just wasn’t expecting Coran to appear out of nowhere.” At the mention of the Altean’s name, Coran immediately sprung up next to Lance’s side. “Coran?”

“Lance, he’s hypnotized. Pretty sure you can make him do whatever.”

A small mischievous grin had taken form on Lance’s own face.  He waived a hand in front of the man. He poked his sides. He ruffled his hair. Yet no reaction came from the older Altean.

“Coran, dance.”

On que, the man began flailing his own hands in the most unorthodox fashioned circles, ones that almost smacked Lance in the face. As Coran began his foreign tango, his feet tapped away while continuing to circularly flail his arms. It was a whimsy dance, one that Lance seriously wondered if it were Coran’s own questionable dance skills or if this were how all Alteans had danced. Before he knew it, Lance watched Coran do a back flip, inducing awe before landing the acrobatic feat neatly. Coran then proceeded to do a head spin, his speed, and his balance, extravagantly perfect as he spun like a white and blue top.

The sight of this was enough for Celebi and Lance to stop in their conversation to cackle softly at this. Lance giggled, his eyes pricking with joyful tears as Coran continued his garish jig.

“Okay, okay, stop Coran.” Lance wheezed.

In mid-head spin, Coran made a perfect stop, his mustache and hair drooping down while he balanced himself on the perch of his head, waiting for another command. Lance snorted again. Unsure of what to command Coran, especially considering they technically were caught, Celebi came up with a simple suggestion. She whispered it into Lance’s ear before he repeated it aloud. 

“Coran, you will go back to your room and back to sleep, and when you awaken tomorrow, you will forget what you had seen here.”

With an unearthly dash, Coran did as he was commanded.

-+-+-+-+-

Instead of opening the hangar’s own hatch (and alerting the others), Lunala and Celebi had used their combined Psychic-type energy to power up the move Teleport. This became a key factor that allowed Lance to not only travel quickly, but effectively find Iberorix in a matter of seconds instead of spending hours to days finding the planet.

Blue made a soft descent into the pillowy white snow. Lance could sense the shift of gravity as Blue sank somewhat into the icy tundra. A distant bluish sun glowed softly on the planet. Shifting the steering bars, Lance guided Blue towards the water, the nearest coast being approximately 20 miles west.

* * *

 

_(On planet Iberorix...)_

“Queen Luxia, er I mean your Highness?”

“Paladin Lance of Voltron? What a grand surprise, I wasn’t expecting your return to Iberorix so soon. May I ask what brings you here? Is Paladin Hunk and the other Paladins here too?” the Iberorixian Queen greeted, swimming closer as the welcome Lance with a hug. As her mercow guards hovered by the door with their tridents, Queen Luxia seemed to have been occupying a vanity, grooming herself before Lance interrupted her. She didn’t seem to mind though.

“Actually, it’s just me. The others, well they don’t know that I am here.”

“Oh, I see. Very well, is there something I may assist you with? I do understand that the Paladins of Voltron are typically busy, no?”

“Yes, there is. I am looking for a cave system called the Elohim. There’s something I have been tasked with looking for, it’s kinda important considering that it is an artifact that I am going to use to help Voltron.” Lance stated.

“The Elohim, you say?”

“Yes.”

“Paladin Lance, I would be more than happy to help you. It was you and Paladin Hunk who had freed my people from the wretched Baku.”

“Don’t forget Plaxum, Swirn, and Blumfump. They helped too.”

“Of course I have not forgotten them; they have made much progress in helping our people stabilize to a better society. But continuing from before, Paladin Lance, the Elohim is a strictly off limit zone, even to my people.”

“May I ask why?”

“Asides from it being considered sacred grounds where the Royal Counsel of Scales judges the next ruler to take over the kingdom, it is notorious for being treacherous to those who roam blindly into it. I beseech that you may reconsider this.” Queen Luxia implored as she placed a cool hand on Lance’s own.

“Your Highness, I can’t exactly reconsider this. At the center of the Elohim, the artifact that I am looking for is part of the Solar Flute.”

“The Solar Flute? You mean the Relic of Legends?”

“Ummm yeah?”

“If that is what you seek, I cannot stop you. The Relic of Legends have been placed here during the ancient times, when my ancestors were merely forming our kingdom. If collecting it will help my people and Voltron, I will permit you to traverse the Elohim. Guards, summon Swirm and Plaxum; I will need them to draw a map up for the Paladin Lance, as well as escorting him to the Elohim. Paladin Lance, you may keep your Blue Lion here for safekeeping if you wish to do so.” Queen Luxia decreed smoothly. With a meek bow, the two mercow guards departed to fetch the two merpeople.

“Thank you so much, your Highness.”

“Of course, Paladin Lance. Do whatever it is you can for the sake of us, please.”

-+-+-+-+-

Much like his own encounter with the poachers in Ilex Forest, Lance could only feel impending dread foreboding to him as he and his two companions swam closer to the cave system.

Unlike the Iberorix Kingdom, where the water was near tropical and vibrant, the icy dreaded sensation of doom dropped the water temperature greatly. The Elohim itself wasn’t far from where the Baku had once rested. At the mouth of the cave, ocean moss appeared stiff. Unlike the Iberorix Kingdom, there was almost no life beyond the brittle and fragile plants that seemed to stick unnaturally up, almost as sharp looking as the stalagmites that speared the ground conversely.

“You sure you want to do this, Lance? These caves are not exactly ‘human-friendly,’ and there’s no easy way for us to rescue you once in.” Plaxum cautioned.

It seemed everyone didn’t think this was a good idea, but for Lance, he was already used to doing those ideas.

“I’ll be okay. I have my Pokémon with me after all!” Lance confidently reaffirmed, almost cockily.

“We do have to warn you, Lance, the cave has rather…controlling powers. It only will permit you to use two Pokémon. Once you enter, you can’t switch them out, nor can you bring any more out of their Pokéballs.” Swirn informed.

“What the hell, why didn’t anyone tell me this?!”

“Told you it was dangerous, mouth-breather.” Plaxum joked, trying to lighten the mood up.

“We can monitor your activity from Queen Luxia’s castle, but otherwise we cannot intervene or contact you unless you either escape the labyrinth or die. The shortest exit itself will be the end of your destination anyways, at the heart.”

“Gee, that’s so reassuring.” Lance deadpanned. The mermaid took this as an opportunity to lightly smack him with her tail because of his unwanted sarcasm.

“Good luck Lance. We don’t want a fellow warrior to fall victim to the depths again.” Said Swirn.

“Thank you Swirn, you too Plaxum.”

With a mutual nod, the three parted ways. As Lance entered the cavern, he brought out Kingdra and Milotic. The two Water-types nuzzled Lance affectionately despite the solemn expression on in his eyes. They understood though.

Something was horrendously ominous about this place. They knew how unusual, how baneful these depths came off, and both shuddered against Lance.

“Are you two ready?”

“Tic!” chirped Milotic.

“Dra!” Kingdra agreed.

Nodding again, the two began their run in the Elohim.

-+-+-+-+-

The familiar darkness that creeps along the edges of Lance’s nerves returned. He swam with much caution, his movements, his every breath that escaped him, all stunted into hesitant paddles as he explored the Elohim.

Cold. It was unnaturally cold. As barely any lights slithered into the Elohim from the cracks, Lance could only make out so many of the stalagmites and rock formations with his eyes before bumping into them. As the two Pokémon with him seemed capable of navigating perfectly fine, Lance was not. It only made his anxiety spike the more he bumped into something.

Lance didn’t know what to expect within the Elohim. He recalls that Queen Luxia, as well as her many servants, had only warned Lance of the sacred nature of the Elohim, how it is a place of trial and elimination to place who was next for the throne. They wouldn’t disclose what waited for Lance, if anything did. 

As Lance swam deeper and deeper, the only foreboding feeling he sensed was how something seemed to be watching him. With every cold corner, the presence lingered. A shuffling swish. A faint bubble popping. A tricky shadow, or merely imagination. Whatever it was, it followed Lance.

Of course Lance didn’t like that. The pursuit laid onto him was nerve wracking, and although he could easily fire at the unknown entity, two things were stopping him: one being that he couldn’t identify the other being, and two being that if he were to shoot his bayard carelessly, he would risk causing a cave in.

‘You are doing great Lance. Calm down.’ Celebi reassured telepathically.

‘Thanks, but that isn’t exactly helping me.’ Lance responded silently back. He was brushing away some space kelp.

‘Okay fine, I take back what I said. Panic.’

‘Hey! I said thank you.’

‘Dude, learn to take a compliment.’

‘I think I’ll pass on that compliment. Anyways, Celebi, can you sense what’s down here.’

‘There are a couple Pokémon wandering around here. Nothing unusual yet.’

When the silence returned to his head, Lance knew that Celebi had nothing else to offer at the moment. Lance has ran into various dead ends. Some of them had tar pits. Others had sulfuric vents that oozed yellow blobs. Some were simply a tangled bed of kelp. But the more and more Lance spent wandering around the caverns of the Elohim, he felt the tension rise in the dreary wet caves. His skin crawled. His lights would flicker.

Like his light, both his patience and his nerves too flickered.

-+-+-+-+-

Much like wandering around in the depths of the abyss, Lance thought too much about things. He thought too much about the last couple of weeks.

He is still readjusting. These were things he couldn’t control, but he was readjusting, his heart, his mind, his memories, all sinking in, their pulsing waves swirling slowly but surely into his core being as he slowly is piecing together everything. He is readjusting well to all fathoms of every one of his lives converging to where he is now.

Lance is truly readjusting to the person who is now in response to who he once was.

Yet…

He still feels the ache that confusion bruises him with. Some memories come in, and they make him laugh. They make him smile. They make him feel alive, as though all his past lives were a grand adventure. But he also knew that some of the memories that came with those joyous ones were tragic ones.

Sometimes he would remember dying. Lance would remember the pain and the feeling, the scars that scarcely littered his body, unlike Shiro’s, and remember the ache of them. They weren’t birth marks. They were scars. They were reminders that he lived, but not long enough. They were reminders that somewhere in history, his life ended, and the cycle would repeat like phoenix of the ashes. He would begin life anew, life without connection to what was once his, life where…he couldn’t remember Shiro.

It was just that.

Shiro. Takashi Shirogane. The perfect man. A sweet heart. A hero. These things, these titles…they feel too foreign to Lance. Like this labyrinth, the increasing amount of times Lance would echo his name mentally, he felt lost to it. Shiro was something to him in his past lives. Shiro was someone to him that the others don’t know. Shiro was his heroic knight, who plucked him off his feet when he felt the eminent danger around him.

His hands guided along the walls. Like the journey to the heart of the Elohim, Lance knew that this journey to truly find himself wasn’t going to be a cake walk. He knows that whatever these memories hold, there is something lurking behind it. Because Shiro…Lance doesn’t know him like he thought he did.

Shiro has not once ever said anything to Lance. He never once said anything to Lance about the past. He has never once said anything to Lance about Celebi (because Lance recalls correctly that Shiro was there and saw Lance cradle the green fairy as he perished trying to flee Ilex Forest).  Shiro has never once even attempted to talk him at the Mossdeep Space Academy. The last interaction that Lance has ever had with Shiro at the Mossdeep Space Academy was asking for his autograph on a poster because, well let’s face it, Shiro was and is a pretty big deal there.

The lack of connection and effort was astonishingly confusing to Lance. How could Shiro just not say anything to him? If it were Lance, he would have flat out confronted Shiro and say “Hey, don’t you remember me?” and of course, if Shiro said he didn’t Lance would try and help him remember. He would have because Lance knew that after all those years, he wouldn’t have just walk away like that. If he spent his life trying to find his lover, he would have done everything he could to try and make it work.

‘Celebi?’

‘Yeah, Lance?’

‘When we get home, I want you to show me another one of my memories.’

‘Lemme guess, does it involve Mr. Handsome?’

‘You mean Shiro?’

‘Duh.’

‘Ewww, when did I ever call him that?’

‘The second time Shiro found you. Sure, I’ll show you some more when you get pass this.’

Then it was settled. Lance was going to get to the bottom of this. He was going to find those flute parts. He was going to be a kickass hero. He was going to wow Shiro. And then, after defeating the Galra, he is going to figure out what was Shiro’s deal, about being in love with him.

-+-+-+-+-

‘Celebi, how long have we been out of the Castle?’

‘I wanna say roughly five hours now, why do you ask?’

‘We need to hurry. I don’t want anyone at the Castle to get suspicious.’

‘Okay.’

-+-+-+-+-

At the end of a tunnel, the water revived from a morbid royal navy into a powerful cerulean. As Lance briskly treaded his ways to the heart, the room came into stunning revelation.

The chamber was immaculately vibrant. Columns of pillars lined the room, and the walls were carved. They were carved stories and mythology that the Iberorixian seemed to revere. As the chamber swirled with a gentle whirlpool like current, the exit’s brilliant exit showed a variety of Water-type Pokémon entering, entranced as they filed into the room, their eyes seemingly spellbound to the room’s glittering hues. Schools of Carvanah and Sharpedo, droves of Chinchous, Lanturns, Gorebyss and Huntail circled ceaselessly. Towards the top were huddles of Tentacruel and Jellicents. The walls, surrounding the pillars were clusters of Clamperls and Binacles swayed soullessly. Resting at the base of the room were Dragalge and what appeared to be rusted anchors. If there was one thing that Lance knew, and knew well considering his affinity for Water-type Pokémon, it was that these types had vicious attitudes when disturbed.

He had to be cautious, extremely cautious, more so than he has ever been. Something wasn’t right.

The water was uncannily warm, the stark difference between this chamber and the freezing tunnels that Lance spent hours floating in was otherworldly to the Blue Paladin. As the current circulated, it pulsed. It trembled in intervals, like a sign of breathing, as though the whole room were alive. The earth embedded below had ripples, a sign that something moved along the floor. Like a silent snake, it coiled hidden. Lance didn’t like that one bit.

Everything was calm and serene in here.

That was the problem. That was the exact problem as Lance entered, for even his Milotic and Kingdra departed his sides.

“Kingdra, Milotic, return!” Lance instructed, raising both Pokéballs to recall them. But they refused. As the two Pokémon began to helplessly circle the warm current that vented into the chamber, Lance was remembering Swirn’s warning as to the fate of his Pokémon. They couldn’t be recalled once in. They were now victims to this room.

‘Celebi, what the hell is going on?’

‘You don’t notice it?’

‘Notice what?’

‘Lance, the center of the room.’

As hinted by Celebi’s telepathy, Lance looked at the center instead of the Pokémon circling him. Disarming his bayard, he noticed that the lower levels of the room, there was a pedestal in front of a fractured obelisk, which stood defiantly as Luvdiscs and Octillery sat around it.

The pedestal…

On it sat a small lavender tube. As Lance swam closer to the tube, the current of the room morphed. Lance stopped, glancing at the Pokémon from where he floated; they halted their hypnotic cycle, all observing Lance. This included Milotic and Kingdra. None of them looked pleased.

Looking downward to the pedestal, it was then that Lance gained a good understanding as to what was going on in the room. The obelisk wasn’t glittering, it was leaking. A thin wispy white trail left the tip of the obelisk, and as the current swirled around the room, the fluid that the obelisk gave of dissolved more into the water.

The obelisk was controlling the Pokémon.

‘Celebi, what should I do?’

‘How should I know? You’re the sharpshooter here.’

‘That has nothing to do with this right now. And don’t question my perfect title.’

Within a few minutes of thinking and observing, Lance decided to a theory. Lance’s predicts that somewhere in the room was a control device leaking the weird white fluid, and the white fluid is what is controlling these Pokémon. As he swims closer, a pressure sensor detects his presence inching to the flute, and whatever gives off the signal, it seems to alert and trigger the Pokémon being controlled.

The variety of marine Pokémon were concerning as these types were relatively vicious when aggravated.

The closer Lance moved to the Lunar Flute, the more displeased the surrounding inhabitants appeared.

Lance’s theory was right. The closer he moved, the less the white wispy fluid leaked, and that was what irritated the surrounding Pokémon, including his own. The pressure sensor appeared to be the pedestal that upheld the Lunar Flute; as Lance swam closer, it sank only a little as if to recoil and shelter itself.

Great.

This sort of vaguely reminds Lance of those cheesy Indiana Jones movies where the main adventurer has to basically swap the shiny treasure on the pedestal with a rock in order to escape with it or risk being smashed into smithereens by a boulder except this is a little more troublesome when you have scary jellyfish and sharks looking increasingly murderous at you.

Arceus was right. Nothing about this was easy. The objective in nature did look easy because Lance understood heavily that by snatching the Lunar Flute’s part, he’ll easily have gathered the piece, but at the risk of being attacked by the Pokémon in this room.

‘Celebi, I know what I have to do.’

‘Figured it out now?’

‘Yeah.’

‘Be careful, Lance.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pokédex - http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Main_Page
> 
> Legendary Pokémon  
> • Xerneas, the Life Pokémon  
> • Celebi, the Time Travel Pokémon  
> • Dialga, the Temporal Pokémon  
> • Arceus, the Alpha Pokémon  
> • Lunala, the Moone Pokémon  
> • Solgaleo, the Sunne Pokémon  
> • Darkrai, the Pitch-Black Pokémon
> 
> Regular Pokémon  
> • Carvanah, the Savage Pokémon  
> • Sharpedo, the Brutal Pokémon  
> • Chinchou, the Angler Pokémon  
> • Lanturn, the Light Pokémon  
> • Clamperl, the Bivalve Pokémon  
> • Gorebyss, the South Sea Pokémon  
> • Huntail, the Deep Sea Pokémon  
> • Tentacruel, the Jellyfish Pokémon  
> • Jellicent, the Floating Pokémon  
> • Binacle, the Two-Handed Pokémon 
> 
> Lance’s Pokémon  
> • Vaporeon, the Bubble Jet Pokémon  
> • Kingdra, the Dragon Pokémon  
> • Milotic, the Tender Pokémon  
> • Luxray, the Gleam Eyes Pokémon
> 
> Shiro’s Pokemon  
> • Greninja, the Ninja Pokémon  
> • Gardevoir, the Embrace Pokémon
> 
> Keith’s Pokémon  
> • Flareon, the Flame Pokémon  
> • Gallade, the Blade Pokémon


	6. Episode 06

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm alive! I haven't forgotten this story, but to be honest, I have had life come in the way, as well as the fact that I have had writer's block. For that, I am so sorry. I know that many of you may have forgotten this story, but if you haven't, thank you. I know that this chapter is much shorter than what I normally have shown, but I have decided that in order to meet deadlines and to make my writing process a little easier, I am gonna shorten my chapters just a little so that I can keep up more easily. Writing while studying for nursing (in the middle of Microbiology), as well as working is super hard, but I want to keep writing. Thank you for reading!

_(Present Day, Iberorix…)_

Panic isn’t always a favorable emotion to wear.

Eyes dilate.

Heart races.

Alarms ring in one’s head deafeningly, its beat tonic and aggressive. They ring nonstop. They ring, and focus becomes a drowning victim in the cacophony. One looks but doesn’t see. Head turns and turns again but one doesn’t process things rationally. Breathe in, but no calming release. All the air surges, it moves down the lungs, down the bronchi, down the alveoli, but nowhere down further; instead it halts and somehow can’t go into the blood fast enough, so one breathes more, breathes deeper, breathes harder in hopes that more breathes means more distance, yet it doesn’t do a damn thing. Moving, but not moving. Running, yet not safe, and the muscles burn as one tries to escape, tries to run from the harbinger that lingers in the frigid torrents.

One processes to determine their survival. It is hard to find the animal instinct to either run or die fighting vehemently. Hands might feel the light glaze of sweat, but the fingers are curled into a fist, just ready, just so very ready to prepare for the fight that has yet to come. Prepare. Prepare. Prepare. Fucking prepare or be ready to fucking suffer.

By now, adrenaline is rushing like a treacherous current, beating one down so badly that they slowly lose the ability to full think. All rational sinks to one of two levels.

Survive.

Die.

Survive.

Die.

So all the organs, the heart, the stomach, the kidneys, the lungs, the eyes, the muscles, everything, prepares. As the heart pounds blood, oxygen and neurotransmitters all around, one is forcing themselves to prepare.

You live or you die.

And this is where Lance is.

In the depths of an ominous sea, his own Pokemon staring dangerously back at him as the wild ones, both Pokemon and alien alike, swirl around him. Snarling. Hissing. Baring of the teeth. Claws slicing water in taunting wrath.

All he could hear was the blood rushing in him.

He has to survive.

He has to take flight, or die trying.

-+-+-+-+-

There were monsters and Pokémon everywhere. As Lance panted, clutching the Solar Flute’s piece, his heart was pounding deafeningly within him, yet he could not hear his own heart. He could only hear the howling and baying of the creatures around him.

Once Lance snatched the flute’s pieces, his own Pokémon snapped out of their own trances, but not wanting to risk further disobedience, Lance forcefully recalled Milotic and Kingdra.

Run.

Run.

Run.

Running is what he did.

Running was all he could.

Running up was all he had to do.

He cradled the flute in his arm as he bolted.

But everything came bombarding at him. The anchors on the ground arose, golden heathen-like eyes glared at him and it became apparent that those were not just mere anchors but very, very, _very_ pissed of Dhelmise. As their tentacle like arms, ones made of rotting seaweed and rust, slithered about, reaching for Lance desperately, the surrounding Pokémon also reached out, tentacles and fins reaching, and reaching more for the Blue Paladin.

One Sharpedo got successful. With a lethal Crunch attack, Lance was slammed into the walls of the chamber, his left leg now in the maws of the Brutal Pokemon, and the scent of blood painfully wafted Lance’s nose as the red bled into the salty water. It hurt. It hurt so badly. Lance has never been found of sharks, and he certainly wasn’t fond of Sharpedos but now this takes the cake. Lance is in agony. His eyes were pricked with tears that streamed down his taut cheeks within his helmet and oh dear God and Arceus above, it hurt. Teeth grounded against his bones. A rough tongue enjoyed his blood. And Lance was trapped. Trapped and bleeding. Trapped and bleeding hard. Trapped and bleeding under an icy sea.

Every pulse and every shift his limbs made, he could only feel the suffering physically manifest like a swarm of Beedrill seeking blood. Every nerve and their respective neurons fired off like an incinerating blaze of sensory overload. Lance screamed, and screamed again, as the shark bit harder, pulling him further into the depths to drown him.

‘What was the fucking trick?’ Lance thought shakily. He remembered along time ago some wiseass of an old man in Slateport City had once told him that if a Sharpedo or shark bites you and tries to take you down, you…you…

‘What the fuck was it?’

Eyes. The epiphany dawned Lance in the brilliance that was his pain and immediately, he jabbed the shark so hard in gills, its malicious grip completely faltered as Lance freed himself. But that wasn’t the end of the pain. As the wild Sharpedo loosened its grip, all the teeth, every sharp jagged end, ripped out as if scissoring his skin. Lance screamed yet again, his breath caught ragged as more blood seeped into the water.

‘Oh God, what do I do?’

-+-+-+-+-

In the face of Death, the moment of imminent peril, Lance had closed his eyes. He was waiting for more teeth. He was waiting for more gore. He was waiting for more pain. But what he wasn’t expecting was Lunala forcing itself out of its Pokeball, and before Lance could even cry out, the gigantic bat had burst in a brilliant waterfall of colors, with light of every known shade of purple and lavender bouncing manically everywhere before the gigantic creature latched onto Lance and disappeared.

Lance couldn’t breathe.

He couldn’t breathe right.

Air went in and out of the respirator in the helmet, but his body felt like the life and energy was seeping out of him. Even in the warm waters here, he suddenly felt the chill.

It felt as Death, even in evasion with Lunala’s help, felt meaningless as he couldn’t breathe.

Breathe in.

Breathe in deeper.

Breathe in as much as one can.

And Lance did so, but he couldn’t feel his tissues rejuvenate. He couldn’t feel his body get that oxygen. He just felt cold and short of breathe.

As the lights around him grew brighter and brighter, he could feel that Lunala was going somewhere. Wherever it was, it was safer. Lance took another breath, hoping that as his pain enveloped him into darkness, that he would breathe again.

* * *

 

_(Back at the Castle of Lions…)_

If there was one thing that Allura was known for, it was being prideful. She stood her ground. She hated unnecessary compromise. She always made it known that what she decides is for the best interests that she believes in, and anything out of accordance were to be viewed as a hindering factor to her loved ones and for the universe.

The one thing that her father made a point thousands of years ago was that you had to be true to the things you stood for. This was what Allura held onto for so long, knowing that the words of a dead man has been so deeply ingrained her decisions to not trust Ulaz. He was Galra. He was not to be trusted. Neither she, nor her father, nor Xerneas, would ever trust the Galra. Her father, and the entire kingdom of Altea was built on protecting Xerneas after the Galra had spawned from Earth and to allow such an entity near Voltron or Xerneas was unacceptable.

All her young life, all she knew was Altea. She knew what every mountain range drove through. She knew where the lush vibrant fields spanned. She knew that when Arceus brought Xerneas as a tree to their planet, they were to protect it with all of their might. She knew that in doing so, Alteans suddenly gained the strength that she now possesses and the longevity to see the years to come. She knew that when Xerneas transformed into its true form, that all life bloomed, and that towards the end of its life, it would burst into a rainbow of life-giving energy before turning back into a dormant tree. She knew that Xerneas was important. She knew that Xerneas was the very reason that Voltron even exists, for without it, the machines would have simply been that – machines. Those Lions wouldn’t even be alive and sentient without Xerneas

To let any Galra near Voltron or Xerneas would be a fatal mistake. So her pride took over. She was prepared to face any loss, any deviance that may occur, so that she was ready to protect those two very things.

What she didn’t count on, was that Ulaz died for the sake of Voltron, sacrificing himself to protect the Paladins from another Robo-beast that Zarkon deployed.

And now, she had to set her pride aside. Because something here doesn’t sit well with her. She was wrong about Ulaz. She was critically wrong about him, and had she given him a better chance, instead of his death, he would have been an ally.

-+-+-+-+-

The Altean princess had found Shiro in the training deck. It was unusual that he was alone here, considering that Keith is always looming around this room when he isn’t needed by anyone or if he wasn’t with Shiro.

He was busy. With powerful stances, the Black Paladin was throwing kicks with deft accuracy. Between the round house kicks and quick palm strikes, Shiro was making good work on bringing down the Gladiator. Whether or not he knew that she was there, it didn’t matter. She waited, watching his rhythm, his flow, the footwork he made as he coordinated one response after the other.

After a few more minutes of beating the robot senseless, Shiro finally acknowledged her.

“Oh, hi there, Princess.” Shiro greeted.

She caught her breath momentarily. His tone was clearly clipped, only hinting at the required politeness that one uses to address royalty, but still hurt by the transgression. He was like her, lost in the thought of what Ulaz had done.

“I wanted to say sorry. For how I responded to both you, and to Ulaz.”

“Allura, this is not needed.”

“I know, but you are the closest thing I can get to towards apologizing to Ulaz himself. All my life, I was raised to think that the Galra were decent and having later watched them wage war with Altea, and try to take both Voltron and Xerneas, I was in my right to hold some prejudices. But then Ulaz had proven me wrong. I was wrong to assume he would betray us when he proved his words worthy and honorable, and died to protect all of you. It doesn’t change much of my sentiments towards the Galra Empire after what they had done to all of Altea, but to know that there are allies among the Galra, if so be it…I’ll be willing to give them better chances. Better ones than that of what Ulaz had received of me.”

“That was very insightful of you, Allura. I accept your apology. I’m sure wherever it is that Ulaz has gone to, he too accepts your apology.”

“Thank you.”

“Have you thought about telling the other Paladins about Xerneas yet?”

“For now, that info isn’t necessary.”

“Allura, they will have to know eventually.”

“I know. But right now, we need to focus on simply evading the Galra and recruiting more allies. Xerneas maybe out of dormancy, but She alone cannot handle all the work. Once we are in a better position in this war, maybe then we can let the others know. They still don’t know about you though, other than Keith, that is?”

“Yeah. Perhaps we could tell them later, when the time is right.”

“Agreed, Shiro.” After a moment passes, Allura thought of Lance. And with him comes a thought.

“What about Lance?”

Shiro paused. Allura waited. She knew that talking about Lance was a rather…tricky topic, for Shiro. It was tricky because she knew. After the fateful night of revealing Xerneas to Shiro, it was then that Shiro revealed his Cosmoem, explaining his own predicament to the princess. Yet, they never fully discussed it.

All that Allura understood was that for thousands of years, Shiro has loved and lost the same person repeatedly, a reincarnating boy whose life is anchored into repeating cycles of survival and rebirth. It was only fate that once again, the two would be locked in the same castle, on the same team, fighting the same cause.

Of course this wasn’t easy on Shiro. And when the Lions learnt about their new paladins, their new thoughts and feelings, it didn’t take long for the Lions themselves to assimilate the feelings and manifest into actions, ones such as the Black Lion being particularly protective of the Blue Lion. Of course it was weird. But Allura dealt with it anyways.

“No.”

The answer was again clipped. It was taboo. This was something that she didn’t touch on because Shiro didn’t really offer much.

“You know he will have to know, right?”

“Eventually, but right now he doesn’t. Lance needs to focus on being a paladin, not about the curse that I gave him.”

It comes without any surprise that Shiro says it like that. To Allura, to live a long time wasn’t really a curse. It was simply a trait. It comes with what she is, and it is a part of who she is. Shiro is much in the same. Lance being an incarnate is now a part of who he is; how he has come along so long without saying it was novel to Allura, until she learnt that he doesn’t remember at all. All she knows are the memories that Shiro shared with her, memories of lives that Shiro has lived through with Lance and all the tragedies that have come with them.

“I don’t think it’s a curse. But I won’t stop you.” She said, now parting ways from Shiro. It wasn’t her place to make Shiro talk.

But it was her place to accept all the traits and qualities that make the paladins themselves, including Lance’s lost and buried memories.

* * *

 

_(Back in Iberorix…)_

After having reviewed one of the first memories he has had with Shiro, Lance felt saddened knowing that the very first attempt at getting the Lunar Flute led him here. He didn’t know if he was going to die. He didn’t know if he was going to die and reincarnate like before. He didn’t know if he was going to die under the sea, and no one would know where he was, or worse, where the Blue Lion was. The thought terrified him. It was scary, not because he was about to die; it was scary because he thought of why he was here. He was here to save the universe. He was here to stop the Galra and Giratina. He was here so he can put an end to this and just go home. He was here so he can see his family again.

Then he thought about what he was.

He was a wet phoenix; the embodiment of water, but never really dies. One that comes back, again and again. One that flows and ebbs. One that wasn’t just human. One that was a paladin. Lance was something. He was something important, something needed, something that was crucial for the universe. Out of all his past lives, Lance can’t recall when he has ever felt more needed than he does here and now as the Blue Paladin.

Here he was. And he was here because of Shiro. He wants to make it back so that they can work this out. He wants make it back and talk to Shiro and just ask him everything, ask him what his life was like before, ask him everything. He wants that. But he can only have that once he gets those damn flute pieces and just makes it home.

When he opened his eyes, he found himself sitting in Blue’s cockpit. He found himself sitting there, and all of the inside submerged in water as was Queen Luxia and another subordinate working on his wounds. It was warm. He was safe. He could see greenish kelp rigidly tied to his left leg, and some bizarre algae glowing to heal him. His leg tingled awkwardly. Lance wanted to twitch, but knew better.

“Ah, I see that you are awake now, Paladin Lance.”

“Didn’t know you were so good with your hands there, your Royal Highness,” Lance jested, coughing softly into his helmet. The measly attempt to flirt with the royalty was met with a confused look from the mermaid queen and a stifled chuckle from her assistant. Their fingers worked swiftly. It was astounding that Queen Luxia was a healer.

“It was considered miraculous that you had escaped the Elohim. It was also surprising that your armor, as well as your Kingdra and Milotic, had trace amounts of elmojion.”

“Elmojion? What is that?”

“It’s a rare toxin that triggers peculiar behavior Pokemon. When present, it Pokemon in a hypnotic state, almost in a peaceful trance, but once the toxin is removed, the exposed Pokemon will fly into a rage. Whatever it is that caused the release of this toxin, it was enough to get a Sharpedo onto you.”

“It was because of the obelisk. At the heart of the Elohim, there was an obelisk was releasing this stuff. It was to protect the Lunar Flute piece, your Highness.”

At the mention of the flute, Lance jolted, with a sharp pain following in pursuit, as he yelped. The subordinate that was helping Queen Luxia immediately pushed him back down into a resting position. She didn’t say another word, but she did turn around to present Lance with the flute piece. The flute piece in question was scratched up, but it was there. It was before Lance, ready to be held once again.

Light glimmered off it. It glimmered beautifully. The holes in which needed fingers laced over them were black, but the metal around it swirled almost like the cosmos. They were rich hues of purples and lavenders, sparkling, almost tempting to be touched. It was an artifact, one that told stories, one that was saw lifetimes beyond what Lance could comprehend.  

“I don’t know what it is you seek with the flute piece, but if elmojion was used to protect it, setting a trap for your presence, I take that it must be important towards protecting the universe.”

“I-It is, your Highness.”

“Then protect it, please. The green algae on you is a regenerative healing applicator. It will assimulate your own body cells and integrate, so that you’ll stop bleeding. Give it another moment, and you should be able to go. Whatever it is your doing Paladin Lance, it must be important to go through a dangerous task as to explore the Elohim. But take care, okay?”

“Of course.”

“I’ll be off now. Be sure that your journey back to the other Paladins is a safe one now, Paladin Lance.”

As Blue opened its maw, the royal mermaids had left.

Maybe now Lance could recline back and take a breather. At least, for now.

* * *

 

_(Back in the Castle of Lions…)_

Lance clutched the flute in his hands. After a good hour of scrubbing himself thoroughly clean, he laid in bed. He laid, trying to forget the sights he saw. He could still feel it. His skin itched foreignly, and he looked at his left leg; there were still faint traces of the algae on him. They had shown like dull fish scales, unable to wash easily away. The blood was gone, nevertheless the memories burnt Lance in the eyes, and with every closing of his eyes, he could still feel the ghostly sensation of the blood dripping on him.

When he was showering, he scrubbed. He scrubbed hard, trying to drown away the pain of that cursed shark.

Was this really what he was signing up for? Was this really what Arceus and all the deities above have fated for him?

Lance thought about it, and idly in the process let his fingers dip outwardly, pressing the play button to the music device Pidge had made.

Spanish lyrics poured into the room gently. They reminded him of home, but the sound wasn’t enough to stop his head from thinking. Think, stop thinking, think again, stop it, the directions repeated and conflicted in balanced chaos and Lance simply took the thoughts. This wasn’t going good and this was only the first mission. As the music continued, Lance thought the music might get his worries grounded, but they didn’t.

This was his first mission. His first solo mission. His first mission unrelated but at the same time definitely related to Voltron. Here he was, scared out of his mind, knowing that if this was the first mission, he doesn’t know what the next one is to come.

Blue eyes bore into the metallic ceiling. They longed to see clouds. They longed to see sea waves. They longed to see tall buildings that reflected one sun’s light. They longed to see his mother and father and all his siblings and aunts and uncles and cousins and friends who would tease him and just remind him things are good and normal. Blue eyes sought after these things and they weren’t here.

Instead, they were busy trying to burn a burnt memory that won’t leave him.

This mission serves a reminder to Lance; this is the price he has to pay to be a hero.

Not all of it will be easy and this is only the beginning of many dangers.

He got lucky; there was a notice on his door, knowing that tomorrow’s training was being held back and he got another day to relax. Maybe then he can collect his thoughts a little better.

-+-+-+-+-

Lance awoke the next day to a box before him.

It was an old box, something similar to an antique jewelry box. It was carved, made out of mahogany, with caricatures Gyarados and Wailords on it. The seemed to move about, showing marine Pokémon, all swimming towards the center. There was a delicate lock, the center of it holding a small rhombus made of quartz. There was no key hole.

When the Blue Paladin tugged on the lock, it wouldn’t budge easily. After a second thought, he touched the quartz diamond, only to find it was a button. That was what unlocked it.

“What is this?” He muttered aloud.

Once again, Celebi’s own Pokéball popped open, the green fairy coming out to greet him.

“Consider it a tool, from me.” Stated Celebi.

“A tool?”

“Yes.”

“What for?”

“Just open it Lance. You’ll see,” Celebi chided. Lance shrugged and did as he was told.

What the insides revealed were an ancient mirror. It was light. Curved handles clung stiffly to the sides of the oval mirror. The base had one handle made of plane bronze, while the other three were red, blue, and green. Looking at it, it was a bizarre mirror because the light mostly went through it as if it were glass. Lance still able to see his morning reflection in the mirror however, and as he swiped some of his morning hair to the side, he noticed that the mirror glowed.

This obviously wasn’t a normal mirror.

“Celebi, what is this?”

“This gift, my friend, is called the Reflecting Mirror.”

Lance wanted to act like he knew what this artifact was, but instead he was baffled.

“It’s a special device that Arceus made. The bronze normally is transparent, but when activated, the mirror does one of three things; it either transforms the Legendary Pokémon known as Tornadus, Thundurus, and Landorus into their Therian Formes, as well as revealing and detecting how close we are to the flute pieces – it won’t immediately tell where exactly, but only if we are close. And finally…”

“What?”

This was the part where Celebi hesitated. There was something off about this mirror. Sure, it’s great that it can transform some Legendary Pokémon that Lance has never heard of into something more powerful, and it’s spectacular that this can help with their missions, but something doesn’t seem right. Lance can tell, from how Celebi has been, that hesitating isn’t her thing unless there was major gravity behind the implications of what things do. Whatever it is that this mirror can do, it must be concerning, right?”

“Celebi, what else can this mirror do?” Lance asked.

“In the hands of humans, it can reveal all their memories.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pokédex - http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Main_Page  
> Legendary Pokémon  
> • Xerneas, the Life Pokémon  
> • Celebi, the Time Travel Pokémon  
> • Dialga, the Temporal Pokémon  
> • Arceus, the Alpha Pokémon  
> • Lunala, the Moone Pokémon  
> • Solgaleo, the Sunne Pokémon  
> • Darkrai, the Pitch-Black Pokémon  
> • Tornadus, the Cyclone Pokémon  
> • Thundurus, the Bolt Strike Pokémon  
> • Landorus, the Abundance Pokémon
> 
> Lance’s Pokémon  
> • Vaporeon, the Bubble Jet Pokémon  
> • Kingdra, the Dragon Pokémon  
> • Milotic, the Tender Pokémon  
> • Luxray, the Gleam Eyes Pokémon
> 
> Shiro’s Pokemon  
> • Greninja, the Ninja Pokémon  
> • Gardevoir, the Embrace Pokémon
> 
> Keith’s Pokémon  
> • Flareon, the Flame Pokémon  
> • Gallade, the Blade Pokémon


End file.
